Castlevania: The Crisis of the Belmont Clan
by k6531
Summary: aka: Belmont Philosophy; In 1855, claims on Vampire Killer: Reinhardt v Hugh v Coller v Lecarde; but some love interests get in the way: AlucardXElizabeth Bartley, HenryXCarrieXHugh, RichterXShaonaXCornell , ReinhardtXRosa; also starring Charlie Vincent
1. On Route to Ecclesia

Prologue

Call me St. Germain. If it is the crisis in the Belmont clan that you wish to understand listen up. I am your narrator, the all seeing observer not bound by time who has recorded the events into this story. I am presenting them to you to make your own conclusions with. What insight you receive or knowledge you gain is entirely up to you. I only give you a window to view them from.

"It began" is a funny way to start. Where and when did it all begin? How far can you go when everything that was relates to everything that is? I couldn't start with let there be light, for you are bound by time restraints. How about the Belmont family's destiny to always counter Count Dracula with the Vampire Killer? Heard that one already too I suppose? Perhaps the best way to start will be the day the crisis begun to climax. The crisis simply stated is Richter Belmont produced no satisfactory male Belmont to take up his mantle, so what now?

Chapter 1 On Route to Ecclesia

On a sunny cool early October 25th morning in 1855, a four horse stage coach dragging a large covered cart sped through the woods east exiting Transylvania towards a rare destination for travelers in those parts. Very few knew the spot they were heading for in Wallachia was not completely abandon accept for a few farmers near by outside Wygol Village. It was the temple of Ecclesia. Once a large building for a Christian order with the objective of countering Dracula in the absence of the Belmonts, the legendary clan always present in the past to oppose his evil. The coachman was of no significance but in the coach rode two who now sought a Belmont in the absence of Dracula, a man and woman. The man was in armor with his helmet on his lap and staring out the window during this long quite ride. Finally to break the silence he grumbled.

"Why the charade, Sister?" asked the young 21 year old Lt. Henry Oldery, a member of the Swiss Guard on special assignment from Rome. "We know the Church has decided that the Lecarde family will be entrusted with safe guarding the whip, why bring it back to Belmont and get ambushed by others who will try to claim the Vampire Killer?"

"Politics demands it," replied Sister Shanoa whom once being a gifted mystical warrior in her youth now served as a nun. She was dressed in a full black habit and over 50 years old but even this could not fully mask the beauty about her that she not just had spiritually within but physically of the flesh as well. She was no common elderly woman. She could easily pass for 35, and her most striking feature was her amazing deep blue eyes. "The few opposing forces in the hierarchy will have their objections silenced when our man is endorsed by Belmont himself."

"Why not His Holiness just order it?" Henry grumbled as a stereotypical soldier.

"It may surprise you but some things are kept from reaching the highest authority, since he has been a pope in exile before. Either way, Pius IX hasn't gotten all the clergy to recognize his infallibility, even if it was a large basis for the acceptance of the Immaculate Conception. Those who are in the know on this Belmont matter need to be united so it's best we have the credibility of Belmont to anoint Lecarde."

"For something so important you would think more direct support for this mission in the field would be better than less support," Henry protested.

"You know we are out of our turf. We are in the domain of the Austrian Empire which has not forgotten the 1848 Revolution and where the Papal Army sided, so this must be a small contingency. The Crimean War is still on with possible political implications over the suzerainty the Ottomans hold over the region, and you cannot disregard Russia."

"Big problems, very small contingency, got it."

"How are you so ignorant to the current times? Where have you been the last decade?"

"Growing up with out my family because they were destroyed by vampires, becoming a warrior, saving kidnapped children from Dracula's castle, recovering the Vampire Killer, tracking down a beast, you know…important issues. So how unfriendly are the heretics around here?"

"Our separated brethren," Shanoa reinforced, "are becoming more tolerant. Many orthodox Romanians have helped establish Greek Catholic monasteries."

"Great, but it won't make me any more tolerant."

"Well at least get you labels right, they would be rudely referred to as schismatic not heretics."

"Thank you Sister, I'll make a note of that on my derogatory language list. So when do we lead a public procession then?"

"Discretion is called for."

"Only a jest; but still, why do this now?"

"Fr. Bustamante was able to make his way out to Ecclesia but informed me in a letter last month that Belmont doesn't have much time. It must be down now."

"I obtained the whip well over a year ago. Maybe we could have done something earlier to get the whip to Belmont; without shaggy there back in the cage?"

"I will attempt a healing of him when we get there."

"There is not much time for that, it's the 25th and the full moon is out tonight," Henry warned.

"What does it matter where we are? The problem will have to be dealt with when they arise."

"Sure but its best to pick our environment on our terms preventing any likelihood for escape. The dungeon he had been kept in the last year was a fortress and he broke out. It took me a year to track him down and finally capture last month. I think you are seriously underestimating his power, this is no ordinary man suffering from lycanthropy."

"I am no ordinary healer?"

"I await to be impressed, Sister. However, we also have one more variable, what if Belmont doesn't choose Lecarde?"

"He will do whatever so I ask of him. When we get there all you need do is take our poor tortured soul back there to the crypt below the temple, I'll deal with the Vampire Killer."

"What crypt? How do you know the layout?"

"Never mind how just hear listen to my directions."

Meanwhile in another coach of similar description 5 miles behind sat four travelers. In the back facing front was Reinhardt Schneider and his wife Rosa leaned against him asleep in a red gown and white shawl. She was a beautiful vision of a young 21 year old woman, with her charming smile and long golden hair. She was everything a young man could ask for in a woman if he was simply seeking a companion to display to one's peers as a trophy. However she also had more that many a young man wouldn't care so much about; a calm, gentle, and pleasing nature. She was truly good hearted but was originally a tended to flower gardens and from a peasant family. She didn't quite fit in with her husband's social circles.

Reinhardt was a big and strong 24 year old with short blond hair and a frame that emulated that of Simon Belmont, his most famous ancestor. He dressed like an adventurer with modified armor under a jacket that had a fur collar like a lion's mane, the same way he dressed when he proved himself worthy of the Vampire Killer 3 years ago slaying Dracula's latest incarnation. He was sure of his abilities and righteous but still tended to want to prove himself to others.

Facing the rear sitting across from the married couple was Professor Charlie Vincent and Carrie Fernandez, two vampire hunters that aided Reinhardt before and have become like family to him. Vincent was an older man gray haired with a beard that turned into a mustache but stayed off his chin. He looked like a detective in his long overcoat. He was well accustomed in the occult and usually carried some type of the repellent to fit every situation. He left his large cross that he usually had strapped to his back while traveling these parts of Eastern Europe tied town with luggage at Reinhardt's request much to his inconvenience. However, even now he had a silver crucifix, holy water, stakes, a hammer, and enough garlic to go around.

Carrie Fernandez was just a young teenaged girl when she aided Reinhardt with her supernatural witchcraft, but now she had blossomed into a heart breaker of men still at a tender age of only 16, not quite 17 yet. She had long black hair and a bronze tan. She wore a fairly modest green dress and poncho. She had a little too much gypsy in her Spanish blood to ever fully be accepted into polite society. Reinhardt however tried to defend her honor when necessary, but she really didn't need it with her powers.

"How much further you think, my husband?" Rosa asked awaking.

"With in the hour we should arrive. I can hardly believe my great grandfather still lives. I cannot even say if my father would have wished to see him if he still lived."

"Unfortunately the Battle of Novara took his life, but he was a hero for your Austrian Empire over Sardinia. Field Marshal 'Vater Radetzky' decorated him," Vincent boosted. "Don't forget that, my boy."

"I should have been there with him six years ago," Reinhardt regretted.

"You had a bigger destiny to walk," Carrie interrupted.

"And now it's coming full circle with Richter Belmont. He has to be 80 years old. My father was the only son of his only daughter. He never spoke much of Belmont except that training from him were his earliest memories; until Belmont disappeared after a plague took the lives of my Grandfather and Grandmother Schneider, and Great-great Aunt Maria Renard in 1825 when my father was only 13 years old."

"He was left all alone?"

"Not completely, two old ladies, Iris his governess, and Sister Tera looked after him, until they died or disappeared from the destruction of the House of Belmont six years later. That was from a fire that also murdering one of my father's last mentors, Nathan Graves. Father was not there during the fire, he was training with the Vampire Killer, but had a good suspicion that the whip was what the one who set the fire was after."

"Any suspicion of who the suspect who set the fire was?" Vincent inquired.

"For now that is a private matter but I believe it could be something settled this day," Reinhardt prophesized.

"Then he established our estate in Bavaria?" Rosa awkwardly cut in.

"That is right," Reinhardt continued, "and at least he savaged the Sword of Lord Leon Belmont from the rubble and the crimson armor of Simon Belmont. But now that fiend, Lt. Oldery stole the Vampire Killer."

"That is not his only transgression," Carrie reminded him.

"No, it isn't, and he will answer to me if I ever get a chance to catch up with him again, Miss Fernandez."

"Yes, priorities must be weighted. There is a chance maybe you emphasize to much significants on the Vampire Killer which is likely not any mystical whip dating back to Leon Belmont," Vincent spoke with some hesitance as the others were blindsided. "After all my research shows that Simon Belmont purchased a Morning Star in the village of Oldon to attack to a chain whip he paid for from a merchant in Veros during his quest to find the remains of Dracula in order to rid himself of a curse."

"What? Where do you claim to get such bogus research?"

"Hardly bogus I assure you"

"That whip has been in my family since the Crusades. What happened when I used the Vampire Killer was real," Reinhardt ranted.

"Surely you don't believe the only way to kill a vampire at night resides in such primitive of methods? Miss Fernandez and I were on to the boy Malus's deceit early on and one of us could have finished him surely."

"Lets not imagine revisionist history here, Professor. I am thankful and consider you both allies that greatly attributed to my success but I was the one necessary for victory. Regardless if doubts have developed for me over the righteousness of Belmonts the likes of Richter, I know we have a special destiny tied in with the whip."

"And I'll have to come clean here," Carrie said shyly, "I would have been in a marriage contract with Malus if not for you, Professor."

"Good for you child, a showing of integrity," Vincent remarked.

"Who lacks integrity?" Reinhardt snapped.

"I didn't wish to offend," Vincent responded calmly, "I just think you should have a more intuited mind and not jump into beliefs blindly."

"Do we not all ready do that regularly when we call things either black or white, Professor?" asked Reinhardt.

"As long as you mean actions. Man himself is shades of grey, only God will finally judge by weighting all our actions that are either good or evil and determine what they be."

"Well, God certainly seems to be uncaring now whether we be good or evil by allowing it. So I will just have to see with my own eyes that some men are just pure evil." Carrie stated with conviction.

"Can you really?" Vincent tested her. "The Russian Orthodox refered to Napoleon as the Antichrist."

"He could surely be considered pure evil," Carrie agreed.

"By some, but was he really aware of what evil he was doing or just ignorant?"

"Ignorance is an excuse than?" Reinhardt chimed

"No, it is not," Vincent assured him. "However, God will judge him; we don't know the intentions of his heart. And when all is said and done we may be just as ignorant to the evil we do in our lives and be on a rode to hell. Many end up doing evil that started with acts of good intentions. I don't think anyone is pure evil. And why would they? No demonic possession would need to reside in Napoleon's body if his actions were already paving his way to the abyss."

"You should have been a padre, Professor," Reinhardt joked.

"No my boy, not a charitable nature in me. Simply scholastics will do for me."

"So no one is beyond redemption until judgment?" Rosa asked.

"No one, my child," Vincent said pleased with himself.

"Even Dracula?" Rosa pressed on.

Vincent's face grew red and with a stern voice he responded, "Impossible. Dracula is already the living dead. When Dracula was human, even as 'Vlad the Impaler,' he did start with good intentions to drive the Mohammedans out of Europe, but he lost his soul to Satan and has no ability to love God."

"Well, my family tells a story that Vlad Tepes III was really much older," Reinhardt went off track.

"Yes, yes, and if true that man was still in the Crusades with good intentions but turned evil," Vincent remarked annoyed. "Still my case is made that as a vampire he was forever doomed."

Reinhardt oddly came to Rosa's defense half heartedly. "But surely some vampires can turn back to their humanity and are capable of good acts."

"No, an evil tree cannot bear evil fruit."

"I thought you said only our actions are good or evil until Christ alone judges us?" Carrie teased.

"Yes but vampires are different. They and all they infect are pure evil."

"I heard Dracula's son, aided my ancestor Trevor and his wife along with Grant…"

"Who?" Carrie mocked.

"Grant DaNasty the pirate," Reinhardt continued. "They killed Dracula for the first time in 1476. Was that not an apple falling far from the tree in Alucard's defense? The evil fruit is the actions of an evil heart, not an innocent offspring."

"Perhaps, but vampires are different and those who become vampires are not even themselves any longer. Alucard is just a myth spawned by heathens. There are no half breeds that I ever had come across. Anyway, to free a vampire's soul they must be destroyed. Any resemblance a vampire shows to their past dead humanity is a deceit to lower the resolve of a hunter. If a vampire is not destroyed their already lost soul will be damned on judgment day. So you can look to it as doing a charitable deed even when you kill a child corrupted into the life of eternal night."

"Unfortunately, I must agree after having to kill my own step-mother," Carrie remarked, "but then vampires like Actrice were evil before they turned. She made sacrifices her own children for eternal life."

Rosa began to look fearful and cling to Reinhardt.

"What if the vampire was freed from the curse and returned to humanity?" Reinhardt wondered.

"Impossible," Vincent confirmed, "once one becomes undead there is no going back."

"What if it was some sort of miracle?" Rosa hoped.

"More like an evil deception," Vincent said rudely.

The words haunted Rosa as this conversation disturbed Reinhardt too who remembered all to well the miraculous circumstances that permitted their happy union. As the carriage rolled on with them in contemplation, two other warriors on horse back who recently met followed on not far behind with ambition to wield the Vampire Killer that night.

"I respectfully acknowledge your past bravely, but are you not too old to inherit the whip, not to mention not related to Belmont in any way, Mr. Baldwin?" asked Ethan Lecarde; young 35 year old man with long blond hair and a slender build, decked out in middle aged armor that was concealed slightly with a blue cape that had a spear strapped over it and two additional spears hooked on his horse.

"I am only 45, Mr. Lecarde," responded the slightly grey above the ears but still considered handsome Hugh Baldwin who kept his hair shoulder length while always dressing in black and carrying swords. "I may add that I am the true apprentice of my late father Morris Baldwin, who was the true apprentice to Richter Belmont in 1809 after he retuned fighting for Bavaria during the Napoleonic Wars. My father actually inherited the whip and used it in 1820."

I heard he never actually played much of a role, the Order of Ecclesia had something to do with the destruction of Dracula that year."

"The Order of Ecclesia was the villain, responsible for resurrecting him," Hugh responded infuriated.

"Well someone in the Order still ended Dracula," Lecarde insisted.

"Well no one from any Order was with my father and me when we stopped Camilla at that Austrian Castle in 1830."

"Yes that is true," Lecarde agreed, "however who was the other guy that won the day for the Baldwin Clan, your father's successor, what's his name?"

"Nathan Graves was like a brother to me but he was no worthy successor, he was soft," Hugh remarked. "My father Morris, God rest his soul, made one mistake. That was proven when Nathan foolishly tried to train Michael Gelhart Schneider, a supposed grandson of Richter Belmont. Richter had abandoned him so that told you were he stood. Nathan was killed and robbed of the whip by Schneider who escaped to his Schneider ancestral home out of the country after burning down the House of Belmont. I will get my revenge on him and restore the whip to my blood line."

"Schneider is dead."

"No I heard he lives and is attempting to claim the whip this day."

"That would be his son, Reinhardt who has used the whip, unlike you, against Dracula three years ago."

"Then he shall pay for his father's crimes."

"You don't really want to dig two graves. Maybe I'll just take the whip and the rest of you will be able to go home."

"Why, what experience does a Lecarde have?"

"We are related to the original Belmont, our forefather married Leon Belmont's sister. We are true cousins of the Belmont Clan."

"And you carry a spear, what qualifies you for the whip."

"The same thing that gives you a stake in this, swordfighter."

"What is that?"

"Arrogance."

They both begun to laugh as they rode on but one more being was on its way to Ecclesia. It was over 8' tall. Arriving from the north moving through the woods dressed in a long coat and American western styled hat, he carried a powerful custom firearm and had a strange chain saw attached to his right arm where his forearm should have started. His face was scared severely as his whole body with stitches and he wore belt straps around his neck. Those who had seen him before could only tell he was some sort of a man but uncertain how many men.

7


	2. Indecent Proposals

Chapter 2 Indecent Proposals

Arriving first, Shanoa and Henry had made it to the Ecclesia in the after noon. While Henry took to handling the beast in the manner that Shanoa prescribed she walked around the temple's main floor awaiting someone after she had ringed the bell tower. After seeing no response to her signal she went up stairs to the main quarters where the door was cracked open. Inside a priest stood over a very old man in bed.

"In Nomine Patris, et filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen," a Priest said making the sign of the cross over the body. Shanao felt her heart race when the fat Priest with a black beard turned and saw her and so approach. "Sister what brings you here?"

"I was expecting Fr. Bustamante; I am Sister Shanoa, here to pray for the soul of Richter Belmont."

"Of course, I am Fr. Brokowski; Fr. Bustamante had to leave last month. I dare no longer stay, I have to get north, but he should be in good hands and able to depart in peace. He has made a final confession, received Christ, and has been given last rites. Sister Tera has been looking after him but she has taken ill. I fear I should give her last rites too before I leave."

"I am relieved to hear Mr. Belmont has not yet passed, Father. I will remain here until they both pass."

"Do you have an escort, Sister?"

"Yes, a very capable young man is seeing to my security."

"Good, safeguard yourself, Sister, I sense an evil in this place."

"I will cling to the Lord."

"Farewell than Sister Shanoa."

"Bless you father," she said as she kissed his ring and he made the sign of the cross over her. As he walked out the door she closed it and approached Richter Belmont. He was falling apart resembling nothing of his prime any longer. She stood over him and waited for him to speak as he focused on her.

"Shanoa, you came back, I thought you never would."

"I am here for you, and in our conditions now, we no longer tempt each other into promiscuity."

"You mean my condition. You are still so beautiful. Forgive me for what I did."

"I made peace with this a long time ago."

"But I forced you the first time."

"Really, you didn't do anything I didn't allow; you were fifty years old then but still quite a man."

"And you were half my age with a vocation. I was just so lonely and needed you. I needed a son too. But I know I will pay. King David took she who belonged to his servant. Worse was I took you from God."

"Richter, you have suffered. Accept forgiveness. If excuses help know that I never made a final vow at that time. I to was in a lonely place after losing my brother Albus shortly after just getting my memories and emotions back. Besides I was never in habit."

"No you were not, especially the tattoos."

"Well it was over 25 years ago and the five years we were together here were great sins but are now forgotten by God; let your mind be at peace."

"I hope that is so, but it doesn't' change the guilt I feel towards Annette. She was my wife and I have never stopped loving her. Her death giving life to my daughter crushed me. With my drinking it was no wonder Shaft possessed me in 1796."

"Have you heard from Fr. Bustamante about why I am here?"

"He just told me a wild story about two vampires Giller de Rallis and Actrice along with Death who resurrected Dracula into a body of a child 11 years ago who my descendant Schneider slay 3 years ago."

"That is true, but I also need your help."

"With what?"

Shanoa pulled out the Vampire Killer and handed it to Richter. His face glowed and he sat up with renewed strength.

"I feel like King Arthur with the Excalibur."

"No chance however of it renewing you and Wallachia."

"But why do you bring this to me, is Reinhardt now dead too?"

"He is not a Belmont"

"He is still my blood, why did you not let it be?"

"You must give the whip to Ethan Lecarde to entrust it to cousins who will not have a true claim so that it can be easily returned to a true Belmont when ever he be finally discovered."

"Leave it in God's hands."

"We will but Holy Mother Church also does her part in man's salvation, and in this matter we insist you put it in the most capable hands."

"Why not Schneider? Let him hold it until a Belmont shows up."

"He is too closely related to ever give it up. But if that isn't sufficient know that he also is said to be fornicating with a vampire."

"What? Who spread such lies?"

"A reliable source, which also claims that Reinhardt Schneider was a bastard and not your grandson Michael's son and in that case not blood anyway."

"Well I suppose anything is possible, I have been gone so long from my home and family, with only Sister Tera to look after me. From the day I rescued her she treated me like God. How my heart aches for the past. All I ever really wanted when I rescued Annette, Maria, Tera, and Iris was to live out my days war free and raising sons and daughters she could have given me. Instead I was arrogant. I wanted more fame than Simon Belmont. He was the greatest of all time you know."

"Of course," Shanoa responded as she knew she was about to hear ramblings she has heard before.

"That was a house when Simon retired to that could be the envy of a prince. He had it all. He restored our families' prestige and honor and earned back respect from all our peers. He was even given back the exact sword of Leon Belmont from the Crusades. That was the prize possession of the family second only to the Vampire Killer. No one could ever get out of his shadow. Trevor C. Belmont the original to destroy Dracula married Sypha Belenades you know. She was the most famous of the females in my family. But even she was talked less of compared to Simon's mistresses. He had some beauties in his life. No Belmont could live up to him, not Juste, Christopher, Solieyu, or any legend before or after him. Until I came along. I thought I would be the greatest, and I started off looking like I could be. But maybe it was the Enlightenment taking hold because the accounts were no longer accepted around Europe with much certainty any longer. Seems the future holds secret wars for us Belmonts. Before they were secret because the word didn't spread as quickly. Now they are secret because no one believes them. But what can I do now; I am sure Reinhardt hates me. Why not just let him continue with the whip."

"Richter, please listen now, this must be done. Have you heard of Nostradamus?"

"Of course."

"There is a prophecy of his that has been deciphered to say that Dracula will resurrect a final time in 1999 and will be stopped only if a lost Belmont is discovered to wield the Vampire Killer again."

"So what?"

"Great minds have interpreted that Schneider could not be the one to carry on your blood line or the name would be Schneider or even change again. We would also have to look for this Belmont, probably because no one starts looking now if Schneider is accepted as the heir."

"Where is your faith Sister? I don't take prophecy that seriously. It has a way of fulfilling because those who already accept it as fact act accordingly. And how can Dracula ever be destroyed a final time, does the world end in the year of our Lord 2000?"

"No, Dracula will be sealed in a solar eclpse."

"What ridiculous rubbish. All I know is only a Belmont can unlock the power of the Vampire Killer and Reinhardt had to have done so to be successful so he is a Belmont of blood."

"Only a Belmont will unlock the power. When the time comes for a Belmont to be needed, the Lecardes will find one. If a Schneider is all there is at that future time, so be it. But for now we cannot let him claim ownership. We went through lengths to obtain it."

"You mean steel"

"No, it is yours again to bestow on whom ever you wish."

"So I do have a choice without threat of condemnation of the church."

"Yes, but you don't want to make the wrong decision."

"No, I don't but I cannot see myself giving the whip to anyone other than Reinhardt."

"I sent out letters to Lecarde and of course his cousin Reinhardt, so they too will be likely on there way. I am sure a spy or two has informed others who will make a claim."

"Don't worry, I still have my wits, no imposter will claim linage and fool me into giving them the Vampire Killer. I still can hardly believe I am holding it again."

While Richter gripped the chain of the Vampire Killer, Henry held another chain that was being used to bind a man to a wall in the cellar by his left ankle. He was in his thirties with wild hair that was grayish blue and long sideburns. He wore a fur pads on his shoulder over a muscle shirt sweater and torn trousers bare footed. He was a man with no hope.

"Will you kill me now here, Henry?" Cornel asked.

"No Cornel, I may have found you help."

"There is no help for me but death, something inside me, some part of the beast will not even allow me to take my own life. Won't you do this for me? I saved you from your father making you a vampire."

"I know, that is why if I can help you I will."

"For what purpose? All that I love are gone. I tried to flee as far north as I could; further than old Viking country but the beast has a mind of its own. When I was once in control I could rival Dracula. Now I cannot even decide who I will rival when the full moon is out. Please use the silver bullets and kill me, maybe it will end this nightmare and no one else will get hurt."

"Don't you think I know? That would be easy to kill you. I blame myself for the deaths of the last year since you escaped. The truth is I let you go because the authorities in Prussia were going to kill you at that time because after a year they found you were not a controllable weapon. But I cannot give up on you now. I have kept my past a secret from my superiors, even Shanoa, in order to keep the more determined bounty hunters from trying to harm you; although the ruthless and best of them had died at your hands already. I suppose I have actually been doing them a favor."

"You will do us all a favor when I am dead. Whatever happened when I destroyed Dracula, the beast was sacrificed. After that Belmont or whoever destroyed the incarnation of Dracula three years ago, the spirit returned to me tainted."

"Just give the Sister a chance."

"I have no choice, that is what I fear, because if I was in real danger the beast would take over, full moon or not. I am no longer Blue Crescent Moon."

Cornel's warnings fell on death ears and no one else would be able to hear him where he was placed, even those beginning to arrive at the main door. As Reinhardt escorted Rosa to the entrance and Vincent did the same for Carrie, Hugh and Lecarde stormed in on horse back.

"Cousin Schneider," Lecarde rejoiced dismounting his horse.

"Cousin Lecarde," Reinhardt replied nodding, "this is my wife, Rosa, Miss Fernandez, and Professor Vincent."

"Charmed," Lecarde replied shaking hands with the men and bowing his head to the ladies as they curtsied. "Miss Fernandez," Lecarde said kissing her hand, "I don't believe I know much of you?"

"Perhaps we can do something about that Cousin Lecarde," Carrie responded.

"Oh, are we cousins too, nothing close I hope," Lecarde hinted as he turned and introduced Baldwin as he dismounted. "And this is Mr. Hugh Baldwin."

"A very refined gentleman he appears to be," Carrie commented covering her mouth as she secretly knew Reinhardt's suspicions and expected a reaction from Reinhardt who suddenly got pumped.

"We have a matter to settle, sir," Reinhardt spoke as he began walking to the side of the temple to talk privately.

"Yes we do, sir, excuse us ladies, Mr. Lecarde, Mr. Vincent."

"Spare them your pleasantries, villain." Schneider remarked from the distance.

"Well, this does not look to be starting off good," Lecarde smirked.

"Ladies, proceed with me inside," Vincent commanded, "There seems to be no servants here anyway."

"Shouldn't we make sure they don't hurt each other," Carrie asked concerned, "this may just be a big misunderstanding."

"No, don't fret, especially you my dear," Vincent said raising Rosa's chin. "Gentlemen resolve their differences in a civilized matter. They won't try to kill each other at least until they have marked a date."

"Better stand by," Lecarde remarked as the three entered, "and make sure these are gentlemen."

Meanwhile in another bedchamber in the temple, Shanoa checked Sister Tera's breathe upon a mirror, when suddenly her eyes opened.

"Sister Shanoa! I thought you dead these many years, or have I now joined you in the here after."

"We live Sister Tera. Belmont lives. Your once inspiring model of virtue, young Queen Victoria still sits upon the throne in London after 20 years. Be not afraid still, for a Fr. Brokowski had administered extreme unction for you."

"Has he indeed? Or was it not for Sister Tera whom sins were absolved?"

Shanoa looked puzzled. "Yes, for thee…what troubles you?"

"I still fear death."

"Your faith is much stronger than you let on, God will call upon you. You mustn't have fear, fear be only for those who travel into the unknown."

"And do I know God?"

"You have been Christ's bride as I have."

"I think, therefore I am, is that it?"

"Sister, reading Rene Descartes?" Shanoa asked removing a book from her bed side. "Don't allow such wisdom to confuse you now when so near death. You must not speak as one who has not spent her life in devotion. Besides, I know that you like I have seen many things, the pure evil is enough to have reason for God's existence"

"Ah, now look how you fall back onto reason Sister Shanoa. Is not faith enough?"

"For those who have faith it is everything, for reason alone only tells us we know nothing."

"Then I must strengthen mine, for you are correct that like you I have seen strange forces. I have had great thoughts enter my mind and have been on the edge of sanity while in the contemplation of the truth."

"Do not be deceived. I remember once you told me of the secret that the evil Camilla's servant Laura spoke to you of regarding the ancient hero Gabriel Belmont while you were captive. You were able to illuminate those dark lies with the truth."

"Held captive? Yes of course. But these concerns are much different. A powerful warrior once spoke of some of his fears which have haunted me still."

"Go on, Sister Tera, let me help you."

"He told me how he ousted Orlok, a powerful vampire, earlier in his mission."

"Really, what warrior on what mission?"

"Never mind now, I wish you not disregard the concerns merely because of any bias to of the source."

"Was the warrior Jewish?"

"Really, Sister Shanoa, you have no doubts pertaining to Christ's word and he was a Jew."

"Yes, how ignorant and humorless my comment was. The Jewish people must be prayed for not persecuted. Please go on."

"The significants of Orlok was that the warrior thought that he had fought off the worst of any who would have any troubling effect on his mind. But then as he proceeded near the end, somewhere in a mirrored image of the castle that extended to the furthest part of the heavens, he encountered a phantom from the nightmares of his youth. The creature Garamoth."

"What made this creature so frightening?"

"It is what he claimed to be that was frightening. Claims he had made before in the warriors sleep while he was a youth which seemed to abduct his soul into another realm of terror."

"How so?"

"It seems the words of Garamoth play on the pride and knowledge of a sophisticated mind."

"Well I shall try to do my best to understand then, Sister Tera."

"Garamoth claimed to be a god from the heavens, like the gods of old."

"A demon then?"

"No, rather than demons being an explanation of gods, he claimed that gods were the true explanation of our view of demons."

"And what gods were these."

"Simply superior forms of life from other planets in the heavens. They gave us life as we find it now. They claim to have the secrets of all of how we came into being through their designs."

"Yet where would such gods come from, another set of gods? There would have to be an eternal source."

"Perhaps still, and yet One that loves us or gives us dominion over the earth and centers His love for us as the most important thing in the universe? I fear we are too humbly a small thing for all that."

"That is true, but God decides our worth, what does it matter how much He creates and at what scope or size? And what would it matter how much in convincing one of our significants. Know matter how splendid, one could still say that God would have made us even greater if we were so important. So we are left only to have faith in what He told us."

"Perhaps you are right and I lack faith. For without it all I have is limited knowledge of the senses and the deceptions of demons that can be infinite. The nature of science is to know, know all that God designed. Yet we cannot. Whether its gods, aliens, demons: true knowledge of such things is not obtainable. Once the unknown and unnatural becomes known and natural; the supernatural becomes explained naturally with elaborate theories yet only new puzzles emerge. Was the evil spirit from outer space an alien creature with natural purpose like ours that we just don't yet understand, or was the benevolent creature really a true supernatural evil tricking us into compliance with evil through our ignorance of the stars and God's universe?"

"Or maybe it is all a Zionist conspiracy. Really, Sister Tera, forgive my sarcasms but I really thing you are letting your fears run away with you into the paranoia of the insane. There is a method to your madness, but you must not give in."

"Insanity or reality is beyond what any can truly know. In such ways the warrior tried in explain the mental and spiritual battle he had with Garamoth before he physical destroyed the creature's being."

"This evil deception spoke of by Garamoth is simply rooted in that like original sin; desire to know all things as God does without letting Him reveal to us in His own time. We are left with ideas and the greatest fear of all. That which comes from man's imagination. His speculation of the unknown."

"Strange, how you try to ease my mind, it is like that of the warrior's philosophy."

"Then wise after all the warrior must have been. Who was this man whom great wisdom was heard?"

"Not a man, not really…the son of Dracula."

"Then you must forget all of this," Shanoa said making the sign of the cross on herself. "Richt…Lord Belmont, never wanted to speak of him and he must have had good reason. Perhaps the entire tale of Garamoth was a lie."

"It was not and if I could hear tortured Alucard before I die, with all his knowledge and experiences speak from his own mouth that he loves…God… and his love is stronger than the fear of a meaningless and lonely eternity in his cursed existence…than somehow I will not fear that my separation will be eternal either."

"You are dying and in God's grace. Why fear your present separation from God will be eternal? You are not evil or immortal as Alucard. Weep for him and his corrupted kind who know not God."

"Perhaps I do weep more than you presume," Tera spoke as a tear rolled down her cheek and her eyes closed.

"You will never have to see him again when you are with God or hear his evil deceptions that trouble you so. All truth will be revealed to you."

"No…no…" she murmured.

"Sister? Sister Tera?" Shanoa called out with concern as Tera drifted asleep. "God give you peace soon, sister Tera." Shanoa suddenly heard sounds from the hall and rose to the window to see the presence of two men in confrontation in a clearing in the woods. "They have arrived. I must make haste and let Richter know to prepare himself now for the company, but I think I will leave this talk with you secret," Shanoa said softly to the sleeping Tera. "No need to concern Richter with your short conscience lapse. Revealing the fear and doubt you have had may only spread to him as well."

Outside the temple, the two vampire hunters continued to square off.

"For my father's honor whose whip your father stole and my brother's honor who your father murdered," Hugh stated, "I challenge you to a duel to the death tomorrow morning at sun rise." He took off his glove and slapped Reinhardt in the face.

"For my father's honor who you have falsely slandered and your brother, my father's mentor, whom you slain; I accept your challenge," Reinhardt remarked as he round housed Hugh in the face blasting him to the ground.

"You bastard!" Hugh yelled as Reinhardt walked away and Lecarde rushed over to restrain him from retaliation. "You will answer for his crimes!"

Reinhardt went into the temple and Lecarde settled Hugh down as they followed

the others who have made there way to the stairs. Shanoa came to meet them.

"I am happy to see you all here. I am Sister Shanoa. Richter Belmont requests all of you and the ladies to meet in his bedroom in 20 minutes where he wishes to bestow on one of you a special inheritance."

As introductions were being made Henry suddenly appeared from some secret place. Upon entering Reinhardt spotted him.

"This is Lt. Oldery my escort," Shanoa explained.

"Sir," Henry said, "I apologize for the circumstances in which I had to commandeer the Vampire Killer."

Reinhardt punched Henry in the face knocking him back and said "I challenge you to a duel for the honor of Carrie Fernandez."

"What is all this," Shanoa intruded.

"Don't worry, Sister," Hugh assured her, "Mr. Schneider already is going to be dead when he faces me on the field of honor."

"I have long let go the idea that my property had been stolen since I will get it back this day," Reinhardt said. "However, the manner in which this man acquired it demands retribution."

"Did you cause some shame to fall on this young woman," Shanoa asked of Henry.

"If this man wants to duel I fully accept the…" Henry paused as he saw Carrie and she took his breath away. She was a cute girl of 15 who adored him when he created a four month intense friendship with her just to get closer to steal the whip, but know she was ravishing. "…I fully accept the terms that the young lady accepts to restore her honor."

"You once said you loved me and asked me to marry you. I think this would make things satisfactory for you Reinhardt if he took me as his wife."

"It would be the only remedy other than death, if that was your wish Miss Fernandez?" Reinhardt agreed.

"Well, would you ask me now in front of these witnesses?" Carrie questioned.

"Miss Fernandez, will you marry me," Henry said dropping to a knee.

Carrie slapped him hard in the face and stormed off.

"Looks like you'll have to kill him too, Reinhardt," Lecarde laughed.

Shanoa didn't seem too worried at the moment as Carrie walked past her smiling. "I am sure something will sort out this matter without blood shed of my escort; please just continue on to Belmont's room. He is expecting you all now."

Shaona then took Henry aside warning him, "Stay here, I will see Cornel now as the day is getting old."

"Sister, you really shouldn't deal with a man-beast like this alone."

"Just be on guard that no one kills you up here, Henry."

As the group headed up stairs they grew excited with anticipation. They were about to meet a legend, but no one was quite sure what to expect. Before entering Reinhardt slipped into another room with a bag he had brought in to the temple. This left

Lecarde and Hugh at the door knocking.

"Enter!" yelled a voice.

Hugh pushed in first ahead of Lecarde; with Vincent, Rosa, and Carrie behind them.

"Welcome," said Richter Belmont. "Forgive me for my inability to greet you all formally in my poor condition. Please skip formality and introduce yourselves and why you are here to state your claim. I am an old man and I don't have much precious time to spare. Except you two beautiful visions. Will you ladies stand on my bed side over here that I may examine these 'heroes.'?"

Carrie and Rosa humored the decrepit old man, Richter and approached the right side of his bed where he kissed their hands.

"I am Mrs. Schneider."

"And I be Miss Fernandez, Mr. Belmont."

"Exquisite, very charming. Please my ladies, call me Richter."

"Yes, Grandfather Belmont," Rosa and Carrie chimed.

"Yes, well gentlemen."

"Excuse me Sir, I have no claim for your whip," Vincent burst out, "I do have great interest to discuss with you a great many things later, I hope."

"Who is this?"

"Professor Charlie Vincent, vampire hunter extraordinaire," Vincent boosted bowing.

"I read some of your research before."

"Really I am honored, sir. And how did you find it."

"Deep and informative but lacking in real life experience."

"I think my experience is extensive and speaks for itself."

"Enough," Richter dismissed him with a wave. "Who are you two?"

"Ethan Lecarde, sir, I …"

"Never mind, I know your story. I actually knew as a boy a Lecarde who would be your great-great-great-grandfather. You have a great and worthy family. To be frank the Roman Catholic Church already gave you Her endorsement for you, cousin."

"Do not look at me cousin," Lecarde commented to Reinhardt but then noticed he was not there. "Wow cousin Belmont, I thought I was going to be the third man Schneider slugged today."

"Maybe for good reason, however," Richter continued, "I will make the call on my own terms. And you?"

"Happy to see you again, sir," Hugh spoke up. "Huge Baldwin. I knew you as a boy when you were my late father's partner. I am his apprentice and your true heir."

"Your father was a good soldier, but not my partner. I trained him as my apprentice because he was capable with a family tradition of his own battling the accursed. Although he was actually my age he was a true and worthy successor but I reluctantly gave him my whip only to deal with a supposed crisis in this very temple. He never returned to me the whip and I have been here since waiting until now when it was returned to me this day."

"At my expense Great-Grandfather," proclaimed Reinhardt as he entered the room with the ceremonial crimson armor of the Belmont's that Simon had wore with a head band that once belonged to Trevor C. Belmont and wore by Richter as well. "I, Reinhardt Schneider, am your true heir by blood line, by most prior possession of the whip, and by your own succession."

"Blood I will not doubt, but I did not train your father after he was 13 years old."

"No, but Morris Baldwin you did. He trained his true successor, Nathan Graves, who trained my father who trained me."

"How is your father?"

"He died in battle six years ago."

"I am sorry to hear."

"Why? You abandon him your entire life. You left him when God took all the others that were his family in the House of Belmont. Where were you, cowering here like a hermit?"

"I had darkness in me that hindered my abilities. This is why I trained Baldwin in the first place. When I was unable to find him I became hopeless."

"The reason he was not here was due to the vampire Camilla," Hugh cut in. "He finally tracked her down 10 years later where I slayed her and Dracula with the help of Graves to rescue my father."

"Really Hugh, if it was even you," Reinhardt laughed, "you killed a whole entire vampire on your own. Do you know how many I had to kill in just one outing on my own?"

"I have no amazement in your actions, sir, in abandoning Schneider," Hugh told Richter ignoring Schneider, "as you should now abandon this disrespectful son of the criminal."

"We were to settle this tomorrow!" Reinhardt yelled being tugged back by Lecarde. "You dare speak in front of my family your slander."

"Your father stole my inheritance and killed my brother Graves."

"I see you two are in conflict," Richter stated the obvious. "Perhaps this is good. We can settle who my heir is truly. God will surely never let evil triumph here."

"How will I figure into this contest," Lecarde laughed. "Perhaps some brain teasers? Like who is the greatest Belmont in our opinion? We can see my cousin Schneider has bought into the notion that Simon Belmont is the greatest."

"And who would you say, young Lecarde, was the greatest? I, Richter, no doubt would be your pick as the best considering you current need of my approval."

"No, sir" Lecarde rejected calmly. "It is true you were great, you could do amazing back flips, killing vampires standing on your head. Hell, you could make it rain a hydro storm of Holy Water."

"I could," Richter pointed to himself while there was disbelief in the face of Vincent.

"Surly than you will say Trevor," Hugh noted.

"Great Belmont, legendary," Lecarde agreed. "Bad ending though going down to a psychotic devil forge master in the back."

"That was not Issac, was he? I thought Trevor survied that," Reinhardt recalled his family history.

"Maybe," Lecarde continued, "but the true greatest Belmont was Christopher Belmont."

"What?" Reinhardt protested.

"Sure, Christopher Belmont. Think about it," Lecarde challenged them. "He had some type of hamstring injury always requiring him to go but one speed. He carried no weapons but the Vampire Killer at least on his first outing. Speaking of the second, he had to defeat his own possessed son Solieyu in order to save him and never had any allies to help him either time. And what was the deal with the ropes?"

"The castle of Dracula," Richter said starting to chuckle, "is a creature of chaos taking different forms."

"Well the masons and carpenters who build that one must have had a genuine skeleton crew building those castles. At least give the man a ladder next time."

"Right," Richter laughed, "Count Dracula can be an evil sadistic bastard sometimes, even more than he normally is."

"Well I choose. Juste Belmont," Hugh declared as the entire room looked at him in awkward silence. "That is right. You see, Juste had to follow up right after his grandfather Simon. He had to do the same mission of finding Dracula's remains. Much of the glory of the House of Belmont was his interior design and the furniture and antiques he acquired from Dracula's Castle that he placed in the famous home."

"Interesting choice since he has the most scandals of my bloodline. Thank God he was a great uncle of mine and not a great-grand father," Richter explained with relief. "Otherwise I would seriously have to try to repute all the bad things historians have said about him. One was that he was part vampire. Simon himself, a very old man close to my age now, had to come out of retirement to deal with his foul ups. Juste was also said to be unfaithful to Lydie Erlanger. Also he and Maxim Kischine were…were….were…. I am not saying these things are true but if enough people say them there must be at least some strange happenings going on."

"Bad pick, Hugh, you would have made a better argument with Desmond, the Belmont who know body knew or cared," Lecarde shook his head.

"I like you cousin Lecarde," Richter laughed, "just like your forefather. I hope no tragedy ever befalls on your loved ones or your descendants' loved ones that would turn you or them into being stoic. However, I need to choose truly of my lines as long as I believe they exist. I always hoped for a true Belmont male heir. One of you three will have to be selected. No one else has any claim to match your three."

"Wrong!" shouted a terrible voice from above when suddenly a huge figure burst through one of the ceiling windows unto the floor at the foot of the bed. The men took warrior stances.

"Who are you?" Richter demanded from bed.

"I am called Collar," the over 8' tall creature spoke, "and I am your son."

11


	3. Vincent's Scientific Curiosity

Chapter 3 Vincent's Scientific Curiosity

Coller stood up to the entire audience of Richter Belmont's ceremony unafraid and frighteningly intimidating.

"My son," Richter pondered, "I have no son."

"He looks more like a creature of a Dr. Frankenstein," Vincent remarked.

"Get thee out of this place you golem," Hugh commanded Coller.

"Wait," Reinhardt said. "Don't provoke him to fight unless we must. I have fought this being in the maze gardens of Dracula's Castle. See the strange blade he uses to trim hedges. They very easily could cut through a man like butter."

"You fool," Coller remarked, "I sought to kill the child Malus, for he was the evil Count Dracula."

"That is right," Vincent said. "Perhaps you have some strange spark of divine goodness in you, but how would that be a claim to the Vampire Killer?"

"It is my birthright as the only one here who is the son of Richter Belmont."

"How is this possible," Richter asked, "when first you look like a creature composed of many men?"

"And so I am," Coller stated. "I am pieces and patches of flesh and bone from dead militia which were constructed by a genius. Although I had a brain of a murder it could not overcome what was in my heart, my soul."

"It is not possible a being like you could have a soul, could it?" Vincent pondered. "Souls are created by God in the act of procreation between man and woman."

"Requiring a life force, my creator made sure I had a God given soul procreated by God's creations. This fertilized soul was a spiritual half that became whole with this body of mine when it was extracted from a vessel and implanted into this substance."

"Abomination you speak of," Richter remarked. "How?"

"The soul was conceived in the womb of the vessel, the Succubus, who extracted your seed, Richter Belmont, willingly to fertilize her demonic eggs."

Suddenly Richter grew more pale remembering a time after his wife Annette had died. "I was a drunkard then, couldn't even show affection to my infant daughter. I can almost remember the stormy night clearly when a beautiful woman with her hair pulled up tied in thorns, wearing only a corset under her breasts, and high heeled boots up just over her knees. She almost looked like a vulgar image of my beloved Annette but without her golden hair. This creature had red hair and was white as marble. I was paralyzed and as she came upon me as I was reclined, only then did I see the black wings of death she had flown in on. True I was numb but I cared not to resist in my mind nor wished for it to stop. And so this was the result of yet another sin. My seduction by the Succubus produced you, aside from possession by the dark priest Shaft."

"Wait," Vincent said, "This creature, this Coller here cannot be a caliban."

"What is that, Professor," Lecarde asked.

"Well Lecarde, a caliban is the spawn of demons. They are produced by a succubus's collection of the seeds of man being passed to their male counter point demons that rape the daughters of men in their sleep impregnating them. The result for the women who gives birth is a distorted evil offspring, according to my study of this by a prominent authority."

"Sounds flawed," Reinhardt spoke. "Wouldn't the result still be as though two demons never had been involved?"

"Well," Vincent conceided, "That is a valid claim."

"Could you be a part of my line, with the soul of a Belmont?" Richter sturred in amazement at Coller.

Meanwhile something else amazing was happening below while the sun was setting and the full moon begun to shine. In the cellar Sister Shanoa was meeting with Cornell the man-beast.

"Do not lose faith brother, God can heal you," Shanoa insured him. "I will be the instrument if permitted."

"Look Sister," the chained Cornell protested, "Death is all God can heal my soul with. You must flee," he warned as he started to fee pain bringing on the beginnings of a transformation.

Shano began to take off her veil. Her hair was hidden, pulled up under the habit. Once removed the long brown locks fell freely flowing down over her back surprisingly with out a hair of grey. She then pulled up her robe exposing her amazingly fit and toned legs. Cornell began to get strangely excited but disturbed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Next Shanoa tied the ends of her robe around her waist. She turned her back to him and pulled out of her sleeves dropping her top down to her waist. She than took the long sleeves from in front of her looping it through the robe she pulled up and tieing a knot with the sleeve behind her neck so that the sleeves would cover her bare breasts. She than exposed her naked back to him once she gathered her hair and raised it above her head. On her back were odd tattoos.

"Henry said you were at least 50 years old. Well I got to hand it to you Sister, you have a body that more than half of women half your age would envy. But I don't know what you plan to do here is, tease the beast," Cornell remarked studying the tattoos further as he drew back in pain. "Are you even a nun? This is starting to look like a pagan ritual. Not that it would make less sense to me."

"Don't be afraid," she spoke softly gazing at him with her blue eyes. "Be still now."

Cornell suddenly got calm even though the transformation continued. His Face began to extent like a wolf snout. Hair was spreading and nails were growing. All the time Shanoa's back began to glow light and suddenly a ray went from Cornell to Shanoa as if she was drawing the entity of the beast out of him into the tattoo on her back. As it continued to intensify, the light got brighter. But something was wrong.

Cornell begun to violently claw at the walls and tore up brick behind him. He shook to the other side of the cellar breaking bricks out of the wall. Still Shanoa's method held while the chain was broken from Cornell's ankle. Suddenly he was completely transformed into the beast but no longer was just light being tugged from Cornell. It was now as though Cornell was physically being warped and bended into Shanoa's back.

Shanoa began to scream in pain as Cornell had a claw as if it was inside her body. She begun to see scars tear in her belly and bleed out. Suddenly a violent disturbance took place and Shanoa lost her grip on Cornell as he slipped away from the glyphing. However, the force from Shanoa struck the wall he had been chained to and broke a seal of some sort before she collapsed to the floor. Suddenly Cornell was on her and with out mercy. "Kyrie, eleison!" she screamed in pray, "Christe, eleison!" Her body was being mauled and teared to shreds. She had lost a limb and cried out in vain. Suddenly as the beast was in side her she went into shock and saw a vision of her dead brother. "Albus her mind spoke, take me to paradise."

"Endure just a little more suffering, love," Albus encouraged her. Nearer to the entrance to the crypt Cornell had her in a state of gory frenzy while still being devoured as she begun to lose another limb. With a pound at the secret door, Henry responded to the sounds.

"What is going on?" Henry yelled. "No it's the creature on the other side. Sister! Sister, Shanoa!"

Powerful thuds struck the door again and again but upstairs they were still not loud enough to break the attention of those in the critical meeting in Richter's room.

"It doesn't matter, I cannot accept you as my heir, you are an evil abomination of a soul made through grave mortal sin."

"Am I?" Coller asked. "I am simply from you, if that is or isn't a soul I do not know. Does man even have a soul? Something that makes him love or hate? All I know is that I had the heart to fight Dracula and the will to see it through."

"This is nonsense," Hugh protested, "utter heretical blabbering of an evil creature that is here to deceive Dracula's greatest foe into giving him his most powerful weapon."

"I agree with that," said Reinhardt who had moved in front between Coller and his family to protect them.

"I agree that he has no right to the Vampire killer," Vincent weighed in, "but is it not fascinating that he could in fact be the spawn of Belmont?"

Suddenly an enormous crashing was heard below and two shots were fired which interrupted everyone's thoughts in Richter's room. One loud horrific scream went off loud and eerie as if from the depths of hell's most tormented souls, then sharply ceased when horrible crashing sounds suddenly ended with a roar of a beast. It could be felt, a tearing out from within the temple. Four more shots were heard from a firing of a gun once more but as Hugh went to the window he saw a werewolf running for the woods apparently unharmed.

"A wolf?" Hugh pondered.

"It couldn't be," Richter mumbled to himself while Vincent studied his reaction closely. Most of the company in the room began to crowd around the wide window and look for the wolf Hugh spotted through the restrictive stain glass. "Where is Sister Shanoa," Richter suddenly asked in terror. "It sounded like a woman's screams?"

"I don't know Grandfather Belmont," Rosa comforted him.

A loud howling of a wolf was suddenly heard in the distance. "Enough talk," escaped Collar's mouth as he moved from the corner of the room to head for the door for the first time since he confronted all with his horrific origins.

As Lecarde cut Collar off and went to open the bedroom door into the hall, suddenly Henry burst in with a badly mauled mass of some limp carcass in his arms covered in blood. There were claw marks all over the blood cloths that were covering the mass. Large portions of hair were pulled out of their roots and a top Henry's cargo. Chunks of mauled flesh also were seen adrift on the cloth. "She is dead." Henry said in shock to Lecarde as he brought what was left of her into the room. They also stood silent as Carrie uncovered the veil placed over her mutilated torso remains and part of her head which was one of many fatal blows. Hugh made a gag reflex almost vomiting but quickly recovered not to let on just how little experience he has with the horror of darkness. If anyone other than Lecarde would have spotted Hugh, he likely would have been called out on his inadequacy as a veteran vampire hunter. But Lecarde did not feel he was really in competion. He also only insulted others in light hearted fun and this was not the time. Rosa turned her face into Reinhardt's chest.

"I have no spells that could save her," Carrie whimpered as though she really expected someone to look to her for an impossible cure.

"It's my fault, why would he do this?" Richter asked while his ancient eyes began to tear up.

"Who?" asked Vincent.

"I didn't know that Sister Shanoa informed you sir," Henry said to Richter as he approached him closer still carrying the part of a corpse. "It was Cornell the man beast. Although you all should know it's not his fault. After the death of Dracula or Malus, the beast returned into Cornell on the first full moon with an uncontrollable rage. Its beastly powers were somehow once channeled out of Cornell to give Malus life. Cornell slaughtered all in his house three years ago, even his beloved sister Ada. I brought him here with Sister Shanoa so she could use the power of her glyphs, I think, to remove the now evil power from within him."

"Of course, Cornel," Richter said in a manner that Vincent could tell the sickly old man had no idea what Henry was talking about.

"What in the world, glyths? Really? What were you two doing with such a secret and why would you leave a nun alone with a beast in the first place?" Hugh scolded Henry.

"No Hugh, she was once a great warrior who had powers of glyths," Richter confirmed. "These powers that once stopped Dracula were amazing. She used power from Dracula, Dominus, to put him to sleep in 1820. Is this now Dracula's revenge? This was no way for her life to end. But I must agree, no matter how capable she once was, what man would leave her to do such a task alone."

"We can pass blame in good time, but for now perhaps we should consider Cornel too dangerous to allow alive any longer," Reinhardt wondered.

"He would likely agree, Cornel has been asking for death by my hand for sometime," Henry replied.

"Then you must destroy this beast," Richter spoke louder than before as he touched a part of the face of Shanoa where one of her beautiful blue eyes still was unflawed starring blankly and lifelessly back at Richter. "All of you go and through the apprehension of this terrible creature will one of you prove himself worthy of the Vampire Killer. Now, before…" he suddenly grabbed his chest in pain.

"Get her remains out of her Henry," Vincent ordered.

"I will go as long as you two come now immediately," Reinhardt spoke up pointing at Collar and Hugh.

"Don't trust us alone with your family?" Hugh mocked.

"Who is waiting for you pompous fools to make a move anyway," Collar taunted as he went out the bedroom doors starting up his strange chain saw.

"I am the true heir and can always prove it anytime, anywhere," Reinhardt announced.

"Wait," protested Rosa quietly to Reinhardt, "remember what we spoke of just yesterday? Maybe you should let this all go, I have an eerie sense about this."

"Rosa, I'll be back," he said before kissing her deeply. "Miss Fernandez, Professor Vincent, defend the house and my family. Cousin Lecarde, shall we?"

"I love you," Rosa whispered towards Reinhardt as he made haste for the door.

As three potential heirs to Belmont's whip rushed out of the temple heading for the stalls to get on horseback, Reinhardt hesitated grabbing his luggage he left outside the room in order to make yet another wardrobe change.

Carrie walked out of the room leaving Vincent in contemplation recording something in his pocket journal. Rosa was now holding Richter's hand bedside as he settled down from the severe chest pains. Carrie walked over to Tera's room where she was asleep from illness of her own the entire day. What was part of Shanoa that Henry carried was placed on a couch by the fire place where Henry was staring into the flames.

"I never should have left her alone with Cornell," he agonized while loading his six shooter with silver bullets.

"What are you doing?" Carrie asked.

"Only I can finish him off with these in the heart, it's my responsibility," Henry explained.

"Wait!"

"What is it? Do you want to despise me too."

"No, I can sense your pain and I know you did what she wanted you too. Don't blame yourself."

"I must until I kill him regardless of what the man Cornell was to me in my youth. I must go."

"Wait, I just want you to know still one more thing, that my answer is yes. I'll marry you. I do still love you."

"I know," Henry said with a smile. "I knew you felt it too today still. It never left you. What we had, I don't regret it. That may make it a sin all over again, but I know its true now when I saw you today that I do love you. You have become more beautiful than ever." Henry began to slide his hand too far down Carrie's back.

"This is all true, just understand this does not mean I will let you get any further until we are married," Carrie said pulling away turning from him. "I am not a foolish 15 year old girl any longer."

"Ofcourse," Henry said rushing back to her side, "but why tell me now, my love?"

"I am scared and I need you to know now how I feel."

"Well don't worry," Henry said grabbing her shoulders and turning her. "We will put Cornell down and you can have no fear of any further careless tragedy."

After an embrace with Carrie and a long kiss he put on his helmet and headed for the door. He stopped suddenly looking back from the hall. "You are the strongest one left here, Carrie. But will you be safe with the likes of so many elderly?"

"Of course, I am more worried about you being safe without my protection."

"Really, you were protecting me? To think, I was worried you were the most hazardous one to my health. Didn't know what you would have done to me if I had to of gone through with killing Reinhardt over account of him challenging me in defense of your honor."

Carrie playful begun to grow a magical exploding orb in her palm and released it his way well after he had taken off. Vincent came in with disgust seconds later as if the orb could have hit him. "I need you to keep an eye on both rooms my child."

"Sure Professor," she said sincerely although she knew she already had been performing the task. "What is going on?"

"Something about how Richter reacted. I don't like to insult Reinhardt's family but I have studied much on the Belmont Clan and I am a better authority than Reinhardt. Richter seemed to know something else was in this temple that was capable of killing Sister Shanoa."

"What are you saying?"

"The wolf is a form a powerful vampire like Dracula can take on. Maybe Richter first thought it was he who escaped."

"What! Do you mean to say…"

"Let me finish, child. The Belmonts or at least this one may keep Dracula, not necessarily because he is evil. Although it is quite possible they resurrect Dracula to slay him for fame's sake. Or rather they may be incompetent and not know how to destroy him permanently after slaying him. I have read of the Crimson stone, a powerful relic that is the origin of Dracula's power. It gives him the ability to capture the souls of those that die around him by his hand. It also means that when he dies his soul returns to the stone regenerating himself."

"Even if true, how do you have anymore knowledge that you think you are capable of ending him once and for all?"

"Child, I am a scientist. I will find the stone and break down its chemical makeup leaving Dracula powerless. I am sure all safe guards are in place by Belmont so that I will not be harmed if he is indeed housing a vampire. I simply find Nosferatu and stake him first."

"Isn't it a big stretch that Dracula would be here? How would anyone ever retrieve his body, Castle Dracula mysteriously appears at different times at completely different locations around Walachia. Then it always collapses from Dracula's slaying, usually falling apart on top of him."

"Yes, yes, I know," Vincent uttered annoyed.

"Then we know his last incarnation was Malus. So where would this Crimson rock thing reside?"

"I don't know but if some prior body of Dracula can be discovered on the premises then an autopsy can be performed and we will discover the truth," Vincent said with confidence as he walked out the door.

Carrie hoped Vincent knew what he was doing but had no fear that Vincent would find anything to get himself into trouble over. She paused watching Tera's chest rise to make sure she still was among the living. She knew Shanoa's remains would not disturb Tera. As she looked at the body tears began to stream down Carrie's cheeks as she remembered a kind nun in her childhood offer her food and shelter when she and her stepmother were starving. "Will the legacy of darkness ever end?" she whispered stroking a hair lock once Shanoa's. "I pray you found peace beautiful Sister." Carrie then went out to see Rosa and if Richter had recovered fully.

Meanwhile Vincent had arrived at the spot where Shanoa had appeared to have bleed out the majority of her volume just at the secret entrance to the crypt where they heard her screams. It was a false wall that opened toward the crypt as a door. Cornell had busted it out in the other direction. Vincent proceeded carrying his black medical bag and a lit torch. He followed the blood down the stairs until he saw a tunnel at the bottom about 20 yards long that opened up to a wider cellar. He saw the spot where the struggle must have begun and realized there was no way anyone above would have heard the fight from down here in order to have aided Shanoa in the battle. Here he saw a broken chain where Cornell must have been bound to a wall which had a mural of a beautiful lady in red. But the name and the details of the icon had been damaged by claws of the beast. There also appeared to be an odd dim green glow in the form of a seal on the middle of a banner above the mural about 2' in diameter that appeared broken in some way. There was a very small crack in the wall upon further investigation making him aware that space existed behind it.

Vincent's attention was suddenly caught after waving the torch in the cellar to the only spot that didn't have a mural or painted figure. It appeared to be more recently constructed than the rest of the walls. Three of the bricks were missing and it was badly damaged by Cornel's rage. Vincent could see shining the light that behind the wall it went into another chamber and to his surprise the small section of brick fell apart when he touched it. Stepping over the new rubble of bricks he went down a small 10 foot passage way where he saw a coffin in the middle of two stone columns in another cellar room where it rested upon a pedestal underneath the casket's center.

Excitement took hold as he fanaticized what he had discovered. After propping the torch in the far corner of the cellar, chains around the coffin were easily removed when Vincent picked the only lock very easily with a tool from his bag. He pushed up the lid as the creaking sound of the coffin's hinges echoed through the whole cellar. Upon opening it he saw the tall figure of a man over 6'. The head was covered in a helmet and mask that Vincent recalled in an archive identifying it as a Dragon Helm. This was meant to scare but had no effect on Vincent who removed it to reveal the handsome face of a man with long platinum hair. Upon removing some metal armored chest mail and placing it underneath the coffin he saw that the vampire was dressed in dark 18th century clothing with a twilight cape and two swords, one on either side. One was attacked in a scallop on his belt. The sun set some while ago but the vampire was still asleep as if paralyzed. Vincent than saw a Holy Cross over his chest and then knew that someone was storing him as he suspected Belmont was. Vincent assumed Belmont had placed the cross upon the vampire which rather than repels one during the night, it paralyzes the vampire indefinitely if placed upon him when he sleeps by day. He knew that removing it would give him a matter of seconds before the creature recovered.

"I must kill this vampire even if he not be Dracula. He certainly has a unique scent of evil…or should I not be too hasty. Perhaps there is an explanation? No there is no reason to spare any evil," Vincent convinced himself. "Belmont is evil, sinister, or just a fool. Either way this must be done." He put his bag by the entry and got the stake and hammer he needed then approached the body and quickly placed the cross under the coffin. Suddenly raising the hammer with the stake over the vampire's heart, Vincent reminisced, "He who hesitates is lost …Christ!" Vincent agonized as something else chopped into his neck from behind. He was pulled into the shadows by some powerful being and put face down into the entry hall to the room. He tried to move but it was so strong and fast from behind he couldn't move. He could hear the sucking of his blood over the sound of his terrible screams as his heart raced. The sucking continued as his heart began to slow. "Damn boy, why did I leave my cross," he mumbled thinking about the giant tree he usually always hunted with strapped to his back. He passed out as the merciless creature in the dark continued to suck until there was not a drop left in the body of one once self noted vampire hunter extraordinary, Professor Charlie Vincent.

Vincent's destroyer glared with red eyes from the darkness at the body in the coffin. Immediate confirmation was made in the identity of the one still resting that the scent of blood already hinted towards. "Son of our lord," the being uttered out from a top Vincent referring to none other than Alucard, Dracula's often forgotten and only son.

8


	4. Alucard's Mistress

Chapter 4 Alucard's Mistress

Alucard sat up from the coffin as his eyes adjusted from a nearly 60 year slumber. While he glanced around the cold damp crypt he realized quietly to himself, "this is not the House of Belmont …and I am not alone." He tightened his grasp on the Crissaegrim Sword.

"My entire existence is only so you never be alone, Adrian," a beautiful voice echoed out.

"Could it be?" Alucard questioned thinking of Maria Renard in which his heart ached for, but from the shadow began to emerge a 5'7" figure. She had a beautiful body preserved in the flair of youth corrupted at age 17. She was scantily clad in a red shoulder less long sleeved gown and stood smiling with her pointed fangs while extending one of her bare foot legs from out of a slit in the gown. Her flesh was the usual marble white of her kind. With no further physical evidence he recalled with dread the name of this voluptuous body before him which he had come to have known every inch of its surface all too well from his reckless youth. "Elizabeth!" He spoke as if shocked by his own surprise for he was well aware that Maria never called him Adrian.

"Don't just sit there with your fangs hanging…kiss me" Elizabeth panted as she thrust herself upon Alucard with her long wild flowing auburn hair whirling around him. Alucard felt her smooth thighs around his waist as she straddled him with her firm but soft large breasts in his face. As he looked up between them into her green eyes he was almost overcome with old habits he once indulgenced by exercises upon her. Then he seemed to snap out of the moment and burst from the coffin pinning her against a stone column. She moaned with enjoyment from this rough interaction. He appeared enraged only to then seem infatuated with her once again. Alucard looked into her eyes again deeply with old passion. As he closed his eyes approaching to kiss her intoxicating lips, Elizabeth closed hers eyes with excitement and anticipation. Suddenly he pecked her on the cheek and flung her to the cold stone floor.

"Cousin," Alucard stated coldly, "what brings you here?"

"Blood ties suddenly bother you? I never knew why such human morality should apply to us. Either way I told you time and time again I am not your father's niece, no more than he is really the Vlad Tepes that was my uncle."

"I don't know much of that story, but likely Vlad Tepes was just another identity for my father. No matter what name he is using, the name Dracula always applies. I shouldn't wonder then who I am or where my roots are really from. All I know is I am everything he is not. This is why I am truly Alucard."

"You will always be Adrian to me," she remarked pulling herself up.

"And who will you be? Last time I took a moment to study in father's library, the old one showed me an account of some of your exploits in the Hungarian Empire under an alias. I believe it was1590, bathing in the blood of virgins, Countess Elizabeth Bartley? You never change."

"Well done, good to see you haven't been sleeping the entire time since the 15 century, although you really could have been by the looks of it," Bartley uttered as she approached him again. "I remember before I moved north, just when you began to turn on our master. Your short hair… how two locks of hair used to stand up into spikes that erected out like the horns of Lucifer," she said as she began to finger his now long platinum blond hair near the crown of his head.

"Indeed, it's been a long time. How did you ever survive this whole time, and that whole age of Simon Belmont"

"Jealous, everyone talks praises of that man, well I hate to disappoint you but the account of my demise burning at the stake was true, I never encountered that Belmont or any for that matter."

"Worth leaving was it?" Alucard questioned pulling and turning way.

"What was I suppose to do? You got religious, guilty over your mother's last words. I at least departed and did not aid your father against you."

"You should have aided me!" Alucard exclaimed looking back at her.

"As the Poltergeist King, Devil Forge Master, or Master Librarian did? Those opportunists, they had only their own interests and would turn on you too if they could turn on the master as they did. Where were their objections before you rebelled? I truly had a conflict of interest, but what would I really have had to do to join your ranks and be with you, drink water I suppose? Be reasonable. Man always liked his logic, apply some of it now. Embrace what you are. Embrace me, damn it! At least accept me as I always accepted you," Bartley protested.

Alucard feared in his mind that his ego might be getting the better of him as he accepted her dilemma and had trouble identifying any deceit. But perhaps she did love him the only way she knew how. And so he decided he would try to let some of the past rest. "It cannot be by any of your own evil that you are here again."

"That evil would be of the mad old fool Barlowe who resurrected me sometime ago but with a strange power to contain my will to kill him. I still managed to be incompliant with his whims, so he stored me down here as a prisoner, bricked behind a wall with some sort of powerful magic seal. I have no idea what awoke me this night and broke the bounds of my captivity. Maybe Barlowe is dead, but I am glad I found you before heading out of this hole," Bartley explained while thinking of the hunter she just drained. "I have been asleep so long it took while for me to get moving. The last date I recall was the autumn of 1815. You know how uncomfortable that is in an upright position? Camilla was here and escaped with out me, the selfish bitch."

"Typical lesbian behavior, nothing to do with love," Alucard said staring at the torch.

"Love, is there even such a thing? What is love but your own delusion you obsess over? All is just personal gratification. So what if Camilla had her own way? You really did not enjoy it? Well I didn't find it that fulfilling myself, I was only with her in front of your eyes to please you."

"Well you failed; the perverted fantasy was not my search for further thrill. I firmly believe that kind has just not experienced a proper male performance. And how could Camilla, she was completely close minded to the idea."

"But she did have a desire for your father."

"That was likely her lust for power."

"Yes the amount of power that can be outputted, what else do you think arouses us so," Bartley whispered cupping her hand upon the front of Alucard's trousers while pressing her body against his backside.

"What? I thought it was our treasure vaults."

"No darling it's the treasure you load into my vault that counts."

"Enough," Alucard remarked pulling away.

"Never like to play, always got all guilty when we drained our victims during our escapades" Bartley laughs at him, "you would make sure you finished or destroyed them so they would not become like me. So where did Barlowe dig you up, you mentioned the House of Belmont?"

"I do not know who this Barlowe is but if he resides in this structure, he dies tonight, as you might force my hand if you don't behave."

"How could you, I know you turned on your own father but you loved me."

"Love, I thought you covered that?"

"Its true I don't love but thankfully for my own personal needs you believe in love and give in to me."

"It was certainly something I gave into but not real love, not really."

"To say that you must have had another, who was she?"

"What I felt was love for a young woman, but I never had her, you were the only one in that way, never another…well no other outside of your presence anyway."

"How flattering of you Adrian to continue to carry a torch for me, but such honesty is foolish to reveal to a woman. If I didn't know better I would think that I have you eating out of my hand and thereby making me lose interest, if I was the sort to do so… Or is that your intent? Don't worry, it will not work, I know what you can do."

"When do I ever play games?"

"Exactly, you still and always did love me, what else is love if there is such a thing but the acts that we shared?"

"Selflessness. Charity. Something more, a longing you could never understand. I had this once for…" he paused staring off. "I don't know by now if she still even lives, she would be very old by now," Alucard spoke quietly with his eyes slightly beginning to gloss over. "However, I believe I felt her spiritual presence leave this world long ago during my sleep."

"Why am I beginning to feel envy for one you never even held so close? You did have love for her then if you never corrupted her, but we both know you couldn't, being a Dhampire, you could not turn her, only kill her… Your love couldn't even give her a child or any woman for that matter." Bartley heckled cruelly trying to mask her own growing jealousy for the woman that was a mystery to her. "Walking in the day, sure, but you have much more in common with us female vampires, no ability to procreate."

"Correct, I am a hybrid, a mule, sterile" Alucard uttered frustrated.

"Tell that to the gossipers that call you the father of that bastardly Belmont Clan. However did you get Belmont's wife pregnant with your 'son' and eventual partner in treason, Trevor? I heard the tale originating from France, another 'Joan of Arc," Bartley taunted before changing to soften her tone not to provoke Alucard any further. "I wonder if the Napoleonic Wars are still in full vigor?" She let out a burst of laughter again. "I'm sorry, Adrian, really. Don't be so cross with me, it's just how they made an Amazon warrior out of Sonia in their stories," Bartley laughed hysterically. "She was described with such power, why would you have been needed as an explanation to spawn a super human Belmont in the first place?"

"Indeed, Sonia Belmont was a noble lady from what Trevor told me, we shared that trait, gratitude for our mothers. I haven't heard this one about Lady Belmont. I did hear the slander that Trevor was a bastard who went by the name Ralph in his youth." Alucard reflected on as he headed for the exit where Elizabeth first entered in from when he finally discovered the drained body of Charlie Vincent. "Who is this poor old soul, surely not that Barlow?"

"No, that was the first meal in a long time, and I was just in time to keep this 'poor old soul' from sending you on a very long dirt nap, the permanent kind. You still don't get it; I'd selflessly kill for you."

Alucard should have known she had fed, but he recalled her being so messy in the past that her gown would be drenched unlike now. "Indeed, selfishly you mean?"

"Technicality," she uttered looking back at him not making a move to lead on. "Well, no hurry to get the hell out of here then?"

"Not at all, I want to be prepared as much as possible before I exit this place."

Alucard seen the tools Vincent was going to use on him, as he turned him over on his back. He reached into his over coat pocket and began scanning a discovered journal, "the journal of 'Charlie Vincent' with a last entry log 'October 25, 1855' arriving at the 'old temple of Ecclesia,'…never heard of it."

"Well, Ecclesia would be this unholy place; I knew that much, didn't know I lost 40 years, but what is time to us?"

"And where is this Ecclesia…ah yes in our homeland of course. With some companions Vincent mentions an encounter with an '80 year old Richter Belmont.' The ink is barely dry." Alucard wondered what in the world could be happening as he reached for his sword.

"Darling," Bartley pouted anticipating his next move as she grasped the journal, "let's not fight, I plan on behaving. I didn't know this man possibly was some allie of Belmont which I assume will always be friends of yours. But why was he here attempting to kill you?"

"I intend to find out, but there will be no blood orgies"

"Fear not my nature now. You always brought out the nostalgia in me for my forever gone humanity and compassion."

"By the looks of this Vincent, I didn't bring out that much, but you did save my existence for another day, I will grant you my trust. I must find Richter Belmont if he still lives," Alucard continued. "I was supposed to remain entombed at the House of Belmont until the death of…Anyway, Annett Belmont was dead and Richter had no male heir. If ever certain there wouldn't be one, he was suppose to release me for better or worse, not send this vampire hunter out to destroy me?"

"Well, maybe one of the wars caused Belmont to relocate. Where is the House of Belmont exactly?" Bartley asked turning a page with a grin knowing she would get no response. Alucard immediately grabbed the journal tugging it back. "I thought you were going to trust me? Look," she pointed. "This man may be useful; Vince here had knowledge of the theories of the old Alchemist Rinaldo Gandolfi. That man knew your father in another era. I heard whispers of this before too, the Crimson and Ebony stones. Maybe somewhere in all this we can find a way to be supreme, over your father."

"Or develop a new form of a Vampire Killer," Alucard replied snatching the journal back walking back to his coffin, "seems there was something I just skimmed about the Vampire Killer being lost or useless with no Belmont heir."

"And why would you want that, you want destruction of our kind? Or do you dream of some redemption? Don't you know we can never be saved, God has damned us."

"Perhaps," Alucard responded slamming his coffin's lid shut. "But maybe you don't want redemption from the Son of God regardless?"

"Perhaps I don't, I never asked. Better to rule in hell than serve in heaven."

"What makes you assume you'll rule anywhere? Lucifer is a large enough obstacle in this world, what chance is there in hell?"

"I should know better than you how my chances are."

"Really…what is death?"

"Your father's servant."

"No, not the personification, I mean the state of body separate from soul?"

"You answered your own question but if you want to know the experience you must experience it. I cannot possibly explain it; I can find no words to describe where I was between my destruction and Barlowe resurrecting me. Your father took my soul anyway," Bartley finished dismissively.

"So you really have no free will to choose good over evil?" Alucard asked seriously.

"I am vampire, an undead body feeding off the blood of the living, animated by an evil spirit of sinful passion and vice. That sufficient for you?"

"What if we were deceived by the Prince of Lies? Maybe we only lost faith, hope and charity. By believing we are already damned we have no redemptive reason to turn from evil. By staying evil we are in fact forcing damnation upon our souls the last day. All must be done is turn to the good in our spirituality."

"That sounds weakly human. You are a crazy dreamer. Maybe being half human you are granted the luxury of ignorant confusion. Maybe we should sleep and invite every Charlie Vincent out there to destroy us. Either way, what possible pleasure does one get from purification of the soul? I remember some prayer during my humanity, what a dark and lonely place of self denial."

"Pleasure is not what purifies one for spiritual perfection, only suffering. True everlasting joy is not possible in any current condition here on earth. Spirituality is even flawed and dark with no sensible gratification, because we remain separate from God. Have you heard of the Dark Night of the Senses or the Dark Night of the Soul?

"Please Adrian; you know I have no patients for your philosophy. At least before you use to ramble beside me only after you serviced me," she said disgusted turning away from Alucard the first time since she saw him.

"I shall not press you further on that. On the other hand I realize even my father will be too much for me to stop the next time he resurrects fully regenerated. Only a Belmont can stop him. So for now, whether we wish to end my father's evil or entertain the delusions of replacing him upon his throne, we have the same interest insuring there will be someone to challenge him." Alucard sat upon his closed casket.

"And you really think it's necessary, the fate of your beloved humanity depends on us making sure the Belmonts were successful spreading wild oats?" Bartley asked sarcastically.

"Fate put us her for a reason. What do you know about alchemy?"

"Enough to get started," Bartley said as she pulled each arm out of her sleeves. "I know if anyone had such weapons it would have been the devil forge master Hector, who may have left such relics in his lover's old secret shop on Baljhet Mountain. But there is no way I start giving you locations without a price. How bad do you want it?" she asked allowing her gown to begin to freely slip all the way down past the curves of her hips and perfectly shaped backside until falling to the floor revealing her naked body before him.

He raised his left brow in interest uttering as she turned around approaching him, "Bad enough to ask you to please help me… my Lady."

She slipped inside of Alucard's cape with him and while wrapping its ends around her body she stretched up standing on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, "Then please first make me feel whole again, my lord."

6


	5. Cornell's Cornering

Chapter 5 Cornell's Cornering

The night was ending fast as Reinhardt, Lecarde, Hugh, and Coller all on horse back were tracking Cornell through the woods without success. Henry finally caught up with them.

"We must have lost him," Lecarde said frustrated.

"Maybe you should not have wasted time with the wardrobe change again Schneider," Hugh said mocking the fact that Reinhardt had taken off the suit of Simon for body armor with modern trousers and boots.

"Yet I still took point ahead of you, Baldwin. Now move, the werewolf was just fifty yards ahead less than a minute ago when he turned towards the marsh," Reinhardt assured them.

"We cannot lose him tonight or we may as well forget until bodies stack up somewhere and I'll have to catch him at a later day," Henry said finally being noticed riding behind the pack.

"What business is this of yours, boy," Coller mocked. "We are here to compete for my birthright."

"I…," Henry slurred as he finally became aware of the odd creature, Coller, that earlier his mind was too much in shock over Shanoa's death to deal with. He suddenly began to feel panicky.

"You have left women defenseless again," Reinhardt scolded Henry ignoring Coller's claim. "I should just deal with you now."

"Don't die yet Schneider," Hugh sarcastically warned.

"Well?" Schneider asked, "You have nothing to say for yourself?"

"Actually, Mr. Schneider," Henry responded regaining focus. "I will be kin of yours as much as Miss Fernandez is. She has accepted my proposal this night."

"Great," Reinhardt complained, "I come to bring the Vampire Killer home, and all I have assurance of bringing home so far is another useless family tie."

"I hope you do not include me as one so useless?" Lecarde asked. "How is Miss Fernandez family of yours anyway, cousin?"

"She has been family since she aided me," Reinhardt explained, "but her blood is tied into my family by her relation to the Belenades."

"Well congratulations Lt. Oldrey," Lecarde proclaimed.

"Thank you sir."

"Really?" Hugh remarked as he begun to slow up to speak to Henry alone. "Lt. Oldery, I just wanted to comment on the real predicament having to marry that woman. You have to have had her; she has the look of a seductress. But to marry a peasant like that who obviously works a field to get that tan and lower your own station is not worth it over the threats of Schneider, I assure you."

"Mr. Baldwin, I am not accustomed to telling sailor stories to a man I have never been at port with."

"Oh hell, Oldery, one scoundrel to another, we are not credible here among the others in their eyes. We get the luxury to say anything we like without the formality. We are both men of the world."

"No use in dueling you now. Well, that tan of hers I find exotic. She usually was quite fair but used to swim nude in the lake during the summer time and apparently this summer it was no different. However she was a gypsy not a farmer."

"Exactly, even worse. Imagine polluting your pedigree with one of those filthy wanders. Don't throw yourself down that ruin, man. I will handle Reinhardt I assure you. You know I had a gypsy once, probably the best lay ever, she was a wild one. But if I married her 20 years ago, what in the world good would she be to me today?" Hugh laughed. "How would the next generation of Baldwin look with those inferior traits blended in?"

"I would tend to agree with you, sir. But I have no dilemma. My parents died along time ago and I don't really care about my bloodline. I am not a righteous man, but I do love her and maybe class and cultural differences won't matter for us. It is not against God's law I suppose." Henry paused as he started to study Coller again. "What the hell is that thing?"

"A Belmont it says," Hugh mocked.

Suddenly Cornell burst from the shadows knocking down Lecarde and his horse.

"Dismount," Reinhardt ordered as he stabbed Cornel in the left shoulder with his short sword jumping off his horse to Lecarde's aid. The beast flexed back and clawed at Reinhardt who ducked the blow as Coller went barreling horse and all into Cornell. His chain saw limb hacked into Cornell's waist tearing him open as he retaliated by biting into Coller's neck. Henry stood by to get a shot at the right time while Hugh stabbed Cornell while he was done with Coller on top of him. Cornell did not let go of the death grip he had on Coller. Coller's other arm shot off the firearm but it did not stop the beast. Cornell finally let go of Coller when Reinhardt stabbed him in the head and slipped out from under him taking off into the cover of the trees as one of Henry's silver bullets caught him near the lower back. Coller was out and looked dead, but Reinhardt had seen this before.

"Damn, did he escape us?" Lecarde asked shaken as he got up.

"No," Henry responded, "there is a blood trail and we can finish him off by day if he lasts that long."

"Look," said Reinhardt, "the sun is already beginning to shine over the mountains. We can tie down the horses here and set up camp."

"Cornell should be able to get no further than 200 yards from this point," Henry said, "but lets not let him suffer to long."

At that moment back in Ecclesia, the sun meant the end for different exhibitions. Music could be heard hauntingly echoing in the cellar room were Vincent almost put an end to Alucard. Now the room appeared empty accept for the coffin, disregarded articles of clothing, and a ghost familiar, one of Alucard's seven, channeling his power to conjure music rather than sounds to haunt. It wasn't a moment longer when Alucard pushed up off his palms against the cushion either side of Bartley's bust from within the coffin to raise the lid with his bare back. What started that early night with her on top of him upon the coffin, and made its way all through out the cellar, had ended with him laying a top of her continually non stop from inside the coffin until the sun rose putting Bartley asleep. She was dead to the sunlit world as a vampire but her face still had the look of complete satisfaction from what she received that night.

Alucard got up and dressed, taking his cape and blanketing Bartley's body. He leaned over for a minute and thought of the young woman who he wanted in his youth when he was but 14. He almost could see the innocent uncorrupted 17 year old lady she once was when she first arrived at his father's castle. He caressed her cheek and neck where there was no sign of the bite marks he inflicted on her, only a secondary act that night. For the sake of his strength, Bartley had shared with Alucard what she had taken from Vincent earlier. He starred as he thought of Maria, and how Bartley much resembled her in their humanity.

"This is not Maria. Maria is gone forever. This is not even Elizabeth, not the one I loved," Alucard thought thinking of the beautiful green eyes she once had and wishing to be able to see them now. He could see into her soul then without the glowing red they did with lust for blood. What he wanted was a dream he could never grasp again, almost a desire for innocent childhood again. Alucard knew that any chance Bartley got to do evil; she would do so relentlessly, regardless of his will. All along he knew what he was doing and he executed his plan perfectly getting her through the night. This was his chance to destroy her with out incident or complication. He would begin with the stake Vincent planned to use on him.

However, something more than a clever scheme took place that night. Although it was mostly an animal act, there were brief moments when Alucard really loved her that night and he almost felt love being reciprocated to him. He could not destroy her now that the dawn came. Even though his intellect told him as well as she had informed him before that she was incapable of love, his heart hoped for the impossible.

Alucard thought his father may have changed when he last saw him. Dracula quoted the book of Matthew in sarcasm but also asked his wife, Alucard's mother Lisa, to fogive him. However, evil called his father back already to the world at least four times just in the short half century that Alucard slept. And his father seemed to have no qualms with returning to spread wickedness. Alucard wondered what little effect his intimacy with Bartley would have, if any, on her evil nature.

Alucard picked up the cross that Richter had placed on him and placed it on Bartley's chest over the cape. She would not be able to move. He kissed her lips softly and then whispered "Goodbye, Elizabeth," and knew not what he would decide to do with her or if ever he would gaze upon her tainted beauty again.

As he closed the coffin he spoke to his ghost familiar before he removed its presence. "Nice touch setting the mood, although one piece seemed not to fit, but it was good. It got her intense, what do they call that one?"

"Walter's Theme," the ghost replied.

Upon the ghost's exit, Alucard summoned his sword familiar. "I command you to defend the coffin from any intruder attempting to do harm but to not seriously harm or kill human life in the process." Alucard then transformed into a mist and made his way ascending through the temple.

Back in the woods, Cornell was found by the hunters. The beast had no time to regenerate the wounds that were made minutes before sun rise so now he would linger on between life an death until he was either finished off or able to transform during the next full moon.

"Certainly twas the beast that made the assault and not Cornell. No strategic assault takes out the weakest of the party," Lecarde remarked at his misfortune of being ambushed.

"Well this proved to be hardly an epic battle," Hugh said disappointedly.

"You should have played with me in a pit then," Cornell taunted spitting up blood. "What happened, did Sister Shanoa make it out of that room, Henry?"

"No old friend and I am afraid you were right all along, I must put you down."

"You'll have to?" Hugh objected. "He is my kill and bounty for the Vampire Killer."

"Give that a rest, we will settle our feud soon enough," Reinhardt affirmed while dropping to a knee to show respect for the once noble man-beast. "When did you two know each other?"

"Years ago as a boy, he saved my life," Henry informed them. "Back in 1844 when the Malus plot was hatched."

"Ortega, part of my beastly brotherhood was used to bait me when he kidnapped Ada and tore up our village," Cornell reflected. "I found Henry in the castle villa."

"My mother Mary sent you to find me but couldn't save herself," Henry went on. "She resided to being corrupted by father."

"Now it comes to this. I can accept it from you, Henry," Cornell said residing to his fate. "Do it quickly."

"Any prayers?" Henry asked.

"Nonsense, Henry, I'm just a simple pagan, you do the praying for me."

"Maybe I don't pray for pagans, Cornell, you'll have to pray yourself."

"A little fanatical for my taste, but I still would never regret saving you from the gardener and liberating you from the castle, my boy."

"What was that?" Reinhardt asked as Henry looked at him beginning to ponder too.

"No regrets," Cornell assured them.

"No," Henry replied, "I seemed to have lost memories of that traumatic time you rescued me, whom did you say was after me?"

"The gardener, the creature with the mechanical flesh shredding arm of his."

As a horrible realization was being made Alucard materialized out of the mist to see Richter Belmont in bed with two young women one on either side in the temple. Staring at Richter, Alucard telepathically woke him out of sleep.

"I thought you were too old for this sort of thing, Belmont?"

"You have been too old your entire existence. What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? I ask you the same thing."

"I asked first."

"I was awaked by a hunter that I was forced to kill."

"No! Who?"

"A Professor Charlie Vincent."

"What was that eccentric fool doing snooping and how did he get through the wall."

"It didn't look to secure in the first place, but something seemed to jolt the weak structure loose."

"It must have been the beast."

"Beast?"

"A minor detail that is being taken care of, but why would you kill that man? If you were free to defend yourself it would not have been necessary and if you were truly incapacitated you would be destroyed now."

"My familiar sword killed him."

"So you can do that too?"

"Your turn Belmont. Why am I here?"

"I kept our promise; I just had to switch locations a long time ago."

"So Maria is gone?"

"Yes."

"How did it happen?"

"You don't really want to know."

"On the contrary."

"You don't, she was a miserable love sick old spinster who never knew the love of a man because she held on to a romantic womanly fantasy. I almost wish she had destroyed herself being with you. Maybe she'd been happy for a moment."

Alucard had a sad look on his face. "I hope she found peace, forgive me for loving her too much to destroy her with it."

"Alucard, I am on death's door, there is nothing left for me to hold grudges over, I am just tired and impatient. But I did hate you for a long time over this. And not just this. My legacy and how I needed your help. You have been my families' greatest allie. I thought I was too good to need to depend on others."

"Well now you'll have to."

"I did plan on releasing you, but after my death with this letter to my heir."

"And who is that."

"Reinhardt Schneider. Or maybe not."

"Who then?"

"I don't know, but there is a strange creature that may need to be destroyed."

"Fine but what of your heir, is it true there is no longer any known Belmont of Trevor's lines?"

"There may not be, and Schneider may not be of my blood either."

"As I thought, a new Vampire Killer maybe needed, or at least a way to use it."

"What?"

"Professor Vincent was knowledgeable on a great many things. I read his journal and he seemed to boost about knowing more about the Vampire Killer then those who have used it recently did. He refereed to them as myths because he didn't believe them, but they seem to be validated as sound theories if I accept the premise that Vincent didn't."

"What would that be?"

"You are aware that the Vampire Killer is only most effective in the hands of a Belmont, other wise it is mostly useless."

"That seemed to be the case when my apprentice Baldwin used it."

"Too much use of the whip by an anyone aside from a Belmont leads to a premature death anyway. Baldwin may have tapped into that."

"It is true Baldwin didn't last too long after using it, probably 15 years after I handed it over I discovered word he passed. But that could be nothing; he always looked older and was in his fifties. I recently found that he even passed it to an apprentice of his own 10 years after I gave it to him. Yet maybe it is true the whip is useless. That is why Graves, that I heard spoke of earlier, was returning the whip to my grandson Michael. But what does this have to do with another Vampire Killer?"

"There is no powerful king of vampires the likes of Walter Bernhard to slay as when the Vampire Killer was created. This was done when the tainted soul of Leon's love was scarifies into Rinaldo's whip. However the same process can be used to create a lesser weapon that can also compliment the Vampire Killer. It will allow another to unlock the power of the Vampire Killer for a non Belmont to use until the day a true Belmont is found."

"Really, then it should be best that the person with the power to unlock the power is a kin of mine so that he shares the same interests. I have a spear wieldier in mind already. Maybe there is fate coming into play, but Reinhardt should still be able to use it for now if he is of my lines. What must be done?"

"There will be a price to pay to perform the ceremony, but for now just live a little longer until I come back with a weapon made of alchemy."

"Where will you find one?"

"I know of a location, but it may take until tomorrow night for my return."

"Who are you?" Carrie exclaimed awaking.

"This is Alucard," Richter said. "I have some terrible news. Vincent is dead."

"What?" Rosa awoke asking. "No God."

"I am sorry," Richter said, "Alucard was a great allie, but I bumbled his confinement. It is my fault. It was a terrible accident."

Alucard began to walk away and Carrie jumped out of the bed to follow.

"Wait," Carrie cried. "Where is he?"

"He is below. I will dispose of him before I go," Alucard assured her.

"No!" Carrie said to him as she followed him down the stairs to the main door. "Just bring him before me before you go. I suppose I must stake him?"

"Yes, I am sorry. Upon awaking I am in bad temperance and fed. But you must not let your friend return to this accursed existence. I will place him in living room. Miss…"

"Fernandez. I heard so many stories of you but I never thought I would be so disgusted when meeting you."

"I am eternally sorry to disappoint you."

"You dare not patronize me and take me lightly as a woman, I have a soul just as powerful as you or any man and you should tremble over how you displeased me."

"I should. However remember that your soul is uniquely feminine in identity and cannot be interchanged with a masculine soul. If so you would no longer be you just as if you took on the body of a man. Still you would be woman in the truest form."

"What?"

"It means cherish the regards I bestow upon you as a beautiful and delicate creature of the lesser sex and do not push me to view your idle threats as warranting caution which could place you outside the pleasant courtesy I show women. Just make sure you do it Miss Fernandez and finish the Professor. My condolences again, and to your companion…"

"Mrs. Schneider."

Alucard took a step back and about faced walking to the door.

Carrie began to sob as she went back up the stairs and into the room will Rosa was seeing to Richter. "Why would he do that, the arrogant prick," asked Carrie, "if he was any bit as good as he was once so fabled to be?"

"His familiars do as they respond to a perceived threat," said Richter.

"What do you mean?" Carrie asked.

"If it's a comfort, it probably cut him dead in a single blow and he felt barely a thing."

"I don't know what you mean, but Alucard told me to make sure he is unable to rise."

"That liar," Richter yelled upset. "He did feed on him. He must have lost some of his humanity and tried to hide it from me. I could at least always count on him before. I hope he is not becoming a threat that will be needed to be dealt with."

"I'll have to do it then."

"No child, Alucard brings death to humans, he cannot spread the curse. What is he thinking? Just be comforted in the knowledge that Professor Vincent is in a better place."

However, no one was in a better place; not in the living room where Alucard had just placed Vincent on the couch or in the woods miles away where Cornell had drawn out the actions of a monster during what were going to be his final moments.

"Watch your back!" Lecarde warned as Coller rushed into the pack standing over Cornell and going right for the strongest. Reinhardt tried to defend himself at the last second turning while swinging out his right arm, but he carried no Vampire Killer this day. Coller's saw cut through Reinhardt's chest armor cutting deep into his flesh. While Reinhardt dropped, Coller was already firing his firearm into Henry's Chest dropping him on top of Cornell where Henry's handgun discharded into Cornell's chest where it had been stratgicaly placed to kill him. Lecarde struck at Coller thrusting his spear into his side. Hugh pulled two swords stabbing Coller in the right shoulder and cutting off his hand holding the gun. Coller gribbed the spear under his arm with Lecarde holding it and swung him around into Hugh knocking them both down. Coller could not pull out the spear so he cut off the end but the head remained inside. He disregarded his lost parts and took off for the horses while he taunted them.

"Now to finish what I started at the House of Belmont, the Vampire Killer is mine!" Coller yelled.

Hugh realized suddenly that his vendetta was for the wrong man. He got up bruised and had a look of frustration in himself as he saw Reinhardt bleeding to death in the grass.

"Damn him? Why did I not see this coming! Rosa!" Reinhardt agonized. "Quickly, our quarrel is no more. Protect her, my brother in arms."

Hugh still looked overcome with guilt but quickly adrenaline rushed in and he ran after Coller. Henry got up and looked into Cornell's dead eyes. Henry's armor saved him from any deadly blows but he was getting up slowly. Lecarde tried to tend to Reinhardt's injuries but Reinhardt was struggling and protesting.

"Save Rosa, go! Don't watch me die, cousin."

"No, Reinhardt. Let me stop the bleeding. You can make it, you must make it."

Reinhardt was turning pale white and blood filled all over the grass near him. "I am finished. Protect Rosa, don't let her harm herself, tell her, Ethan! I love her, and I regret not choosing her wishes. Claim the whip for yourself. Make haste!" As they took off, Reinhardt looked at Cornell dead and then turned to the skies trying to rid his mind of the thoughts of his body being devoured by flies. "Oh God, let me see her once more…Rosa…Rosa…..Ro…."

Lecarde reluctantly made his way to the horses with Henry behind him but their horses were slaughtered, cut down by Coller's saw.

"Now what?" Henry wondered. "It will be some hike back now. Coller may kill everyone in the temple and be hours gone from with the Vampire Killer before we even get there. Carrie!"

"Let us not think of doom, we must go now and maybe we will get fortunate and find a way back off foot," Lecarde hoped as he looked back toward's Reinhardt and Cornell. "I hate to leave my cousin's body out here to rot, but Rosa was his last concern, let us honor that."

Henry and Lecarde moved through the woods as quick as their injured bodies could carry them while Henry spotted a wolf speeding by with almost supernatural grace. He said nothing to Lecarde so that they didn't turn back for the wolf was heading in the direction where the bodies of Cornell and Reihardt dropped. Henry tried to get the thought out of his mind that the wolf would devour the bodies; or worse yet, feed off Reinhardt while his soul still lingered. At that moment Henry hoped the wolf was a pagan force taking Cornell home.

"So how does one become a werewolf, Lt?"

"You have to survive a bite from one, Mr. Lecarde."

"A scratch won't do it, will it?"

"From his claw, it shouldn't."

"Good, one less tragedy to dread."

As the two continued well behind with the circumstances being as they were, Coller had the odds in his favor. However, he only got around to killing three horses before riding off on one himself. A fifth horse was still spared and now pursued him with Hugh on it's back. The sun was shinning bright and Hugh could see Coller as he raced back towards Ecclesia with nothing in his way to stop him from taking the Vampire Killer.

8


	6. Baldwin's Vice or Virtue

Chapter 6 Baldwin's Vice or Virtue

It was a calm afternoon for Richter Belmont who was being fed by Rosa in his bed. Carrie had cooked and prepared the oatmeal before attending to Sister Tera in the next room. While sitting at his bed side, Rosa thought of Reinhardt and prayed the beast had been stopped so they could leave when he returns. She still could not believe they had lost Vincent and she had not yet seen his body. Carrie confirmed it was placed there before Alucard vanished in search of some weapon needed for a ceremony. Rosa didn't understand what was happening and didn't want to, she only wanted Reinhardt to return.

"Try to eat some of this, Grandfather Belmont," Rosa sweetly pleaded.

"It certainly never tastes better the older I get, but certainly makes death less fearful. You are a beautiful woman, Rosa. Reinhardt truly is of my lines. We always married blonds. Trevor's Sypha. Simon's Selena. Juste's Lydie. My Annette. Well Leon's Sara was a brunette, but then she died. She is the soul, the corrupted innocent that willing gave herself over to aid our struggle against Dracula for all time. Or at least some believe it so. Sometimes I think it is not so important that us Belmonts actually have this edge to win over Dracula. The important thing is that we continue to believe in order to have the confidence to prevail. And maybe in the end we prevail not just for our faith, but because our faith was real. For I cannot explain the power I had once."

"I can keep faith, as long as there is hope for love to conquer," said Rosa.

"Really, intereseting child, but I don't follow. Anyway, I am ready to die soon enough, I have been ready for a long time, but at the moment death comes, I'll probably still need a minute."

The front door slammed upon as feet stomped the floor leading up the stairs.

"What is that?" Rosa wondered in fear.

"Stand back behind my bed, Rosa," Richter commanded as he held out the Vampire Killer. Coller bursted through the door. "You come for my life now too?"

"Give me the Vampire Killer, father and I will kill you quickly," Coller said approaching him.

"Snatch it, son," Richter submitted studying Coller, "just don't touch the woman."

"She will join her husband."

"That is right, let her leave." Richter held out the whip for Coller when he suddenly recalled he had lost his hand. "What is this, son. I am sorry, you will have to let one of your peers claim the whip."

Coller was infuriated and he rose up his chain saw arm with rage. Richter made a feeble attempt to strike him only managing to toss the whip onto the floor. Coller hooked the whip with his stub arm. "It is mine. A Belmont now has control of the Vampire Killer, I Belmont that serves Count Dracula."

Carrie struck him with an orb from the door knocking the whip out of his possession. Infuriated, Coller started cutting Richter's bed in half as Rosa pulled Richter to the floor. Carrie had to charge Coller and gave him another blast in the back with a smaller orb. As she was drawn in, Coller wildly waved his saw at Carrie. She put her hands over her face with her enchanced rings. The magic withheld against the saw but the friction was too much and Carrie fumbled the rings as Coller saw hit the floor. Carrie was cornered and tried to blast him with another orb but Coller was not being affected.

Hugh suddenly burst from the open door onto Coller from behind stabbing him through the heart with the sword in his left hand spewing blood all over Hugh. Coller swung around with the sword stuck in his back swinging his chainsaw at Hugh who then pierced into the motor with a second sword in his right hand. In dead lock Hugh took his left palm and slammed the wound where Lecarde's spear head still remained under the surface. Coller knocked Hugh to the floor with the stub arm and attempted to stump him as he rolled clear. Carrie hit him with an orb in the back of the head. Hugh took the opportunity to jump onto Coller's arm with all his weight and guide the chain saw into Coller' right leg almost taking it off completely. Coller collapsed in a heap and his leg was hanging on barely as he slid around on the floor. Hugh grabbed for axe he spotted under Richter's bed as Coller got a piece of Hugh in the shoulder with his chain saw. Hugh turned with the axe and put it through Coller's right arm just before the saw pinning it to the floor. He then took out the sword that had been lodged and put it through Coller's right eye through his head.

"Die, you abomination!" Hugh yelled. "You killed Nathan, now he is avenged."

Coller was not done as he pulled his arm from the axe detaching it from the saw. With one leg and two stump arms he rammed Hugh into the wall. Carrie hit him again in the back with an orb as he propelled himself backwards on one foot launching himself into Carrie on top of her. The sword through his head gashed Carrie in the arm as she screamed. Hugh picked up the chain saw and cut it into Coller cutting his torso in half as blood shot out. Coller was now a handless upper body. Hugh dropped the saw and pulled his sword out of Coller's head. With his two swords he cut off the head of Coller.

Hugh dropped his swords and gave a hand to Carrie. As he pulled her up he slipped and she landed on top of him. "Pardon me Miss Fernandez, this is not the time."

"I am extremely grateful you arrived sir," Carrie said smiling before pulling herself up, "but I assure you that my gratitude will not be that rewarding for you."

"I'll settle with that smile for now."

"Is the villain finished?" Richter asked as Rosa helped him sit up on the floor.

"He is done. It was this creature all along that destroyed the House of Belmont. Michael Schneider may have been a coward but my quarrel with his son was wrong. Coller murdered Graves for the whip. I still am not sure why my brother trained Schneider."

"I do now," Richter said, "but for now take the body parts outside and burn them, Mr. Baldwin."

"I hope I have proved myself and you can hand me my birthright?"

"Where is the beast, Hugh?" Richter asked as he picked up the Vampire Killer.

"Blue Cresent Moon is finished, the beast is dead. I mostly slaughtered him."

"I hope that was not because you are all who remains?"

"Where is Henry?" Carrie asked.

"I believe he is fine…there was a causality however because of this fiend," Hugh said as a very sincere look of sadness began to show in his expression as he looked down at Rosa.

"Where is my husband?" Rosa asked in fear.

"We had a quarrel and it resolved without incident."

"What did you do to him, tell us?" Carrie demanded.

"It was not I, but Coller. He struck your husband down Rosa," Hugh mumbled. "I am truly sorry. I had wronged him, we wronged each other over a deception. We only discovered the truth when it was too late and Coller ambushed him."

"No….no," Rosa began to cry and ran out of the room sobbing.

"Reinhardt…he was so strong and made me feel so safe just to be near him," Carrie began crying. "He was your heir, Grandfather Belmont, your blood. If you just would have let him carry it like he had before."

"I know child. I now inadvertently caused the end of two lives with my feebleness," Richter admitted, "And so the prophecy seemed to be self fulfilling as I warned."

"Surely you cannot blame yourself for Sister Shanoa's assault," Hugh assured him.

"Not Shanoa," Richter uttered.

"Surely you don't mean the damn creature," Hugh remarked.

"No," Carrie explained, "Professor Vincent is dead."

"Put me to bed with Sister Tera," Richter said.

Hugh picked up Richter and carried him into Tera's room where he laid him down next to her to sleep. Hugh then walked out into the hall stopping Carrie.

"I am going to dispose of Coller's remains and get cleaned up. Then you tell me what the hell is going on, Miss Fernandez."

"Meet me in the living room below before sunset."

As Hugh picked up the parts and put them into four bags, it took him three trips to get the entire carcass outside. He went off about 100 yards from the temple and tossed the remains into a pit. He then lit a fire and watched it burn. "Is this where the pray comes in? I pray you did have a soul, you abomination. Either way, your destiny ends in a pit of fire, heterosapien." Hugh then spit on the pit and walked away back to the temple.

Hugh ate something and cleaned up the blood and filth. He then entered into the living room close to sunset. Vincent was laid out in a coffin needing to be sealed where Carrie stood over him.

"What happened," Hugh asked.

"He was killed by a vampire," Carrie said.

"Have you assured he will not rise?"

"It has been taken care of. We just need to move the coffin before it starts to stink. We will try to take the body back with us home tomorrow. We just need to wait for Henry so we can get out of this hellish place. You or Lecarde can duel for the Vampire Killer now."

"But who is this vampire that killed the Professor?"

"An allie of the Belmont Clan, I suppose it was an accident. You heard of Alucard?"

"Sure, most everyone vampire hunter has. Seems odd though. He was here?"

"He has been here the whole time. I guess Belmont brought him here entombed since he left the House of Belmont years ago."

"So where is Alucard?"

"Off to save us somehow, so he said."

"Probably more of the same," Hugh said pointing at Vincent. "What did he look like?"

"Unnaturally beautiful."

"Really? But why wait for him? Belmont should just give me the Vampire Slayer. There is no question I have the best qualifications. Don't you agree?"

"You did handle Coller like one with experience," Carrie said flirtingly "a present surprise out of you for once."

"I am full of surprises. I have much experience that if you chose to let me share them with you, I could broaden your horizons," Hugh said as he moved closely behind Carrie putting his right hand on her hip and smelling her hair.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a half hearted protest. As she started to move Hugh grabbed her left shoulder with his left hand keeping her in tight. "Don't make me hurt you, sir," she gently teased him.

"You already pierced my heart, lady. You were so amazing with your powers."

"But I am an engaged woman for one," Carrie spoke softly as she allowed him to embrace her from behind kissing her cheek and down her neck as the intensity of the night had gotten her excited.

"The Lieutenant doesn't need to know about this, although I am sure he already accepts that even an engagement doesn't change what type of woman you are, he is no idiot."

Carrie suddenly turned cold pulling away and slapped him in the face. "I will let you leave this room in one piece on account of you saving my life earlier."

"Don't bother yourself; I was not planning on leaving this room without surrendering at least some piece of myself to you first."

"Get out! Now! You are no gentlemen."

"I am not, and you are no lady. I look forward to how much you'll let me get away with next time," Hugh waltzed away with a grin of satisfaction.

"Nothing! You ever touch me again!" Carrie warned.

"I leave you to wonder how far we would have gone if I did not turn you off with the truth," Hugh got the last word as he was out the room.

Carrie was infuriated as she quietly said to herself, "I don't have to live dishonorably, I love my Henry; I do. I can stay true; I need him now so badly."

Hugh strolled off to a room that he expected empty to get some sleep. Upon entering he saw Rosa weeping. Hugh was conflicted over her grief and sincerely tried to comfort her as he sat next to her while blocking the evil impulses in his heart.

"Weep dear lady if you must," Hugh said as she rested her head against his shoulder, "anything you ever need I am at your command for life."

"I need Reinhardt back, how can I live now without him?"

"You can find another in time."

"I just wanted to give him children, grow old with him," Rosa weeped. "His mother and my parents begged him to let this thing go, forget about the whip. He did his destiny. He had me. I don't see why he couldn't let it go."

"He was a true soldier, the type that cannot let the fight go, until we no longer have the ability to go on. As long as the heart of a warrior is inside us, we are just not content to sit the fight out. Otherwise, what purpose do we serve?"

"How about love? Reinhardt once said mankind cannot escape the destiny to oppose the darkness. But it didn't have to be his fight any longer. We escaped it together. We had faith and love. And for the first time hope."

"You still can have hope."

"Not without him, he hoped beyond hope to save me once, but I should have known it too would end, leaving me empty without him. My sins are unforgivable, yet even suicide was not an option to allow my soul peace. Reinhardt taught me God doesn't permit it, and yet he couldn't kill me because he loved me so. But you can."

"What! My lady, you are not alright now, I think you should rest."

"No, I need you to kill me."

"No, you must sleep."

"You are a Vampire slayer are you not?"

"Yes."

"I am a vampire, can't you slay me."

"My dear, you are not a vampire."

"I was, but I still must be cursed like the Professor said. It would explain too why I could never give Reinhardt a child in three years."

"My dear you could not be a vampire. Look at your reflection."

"Please, do your duty. Won't you please?" Rosa cried as she got up and ran off.

"Wait," Hugh said now alone in the room, "at least don't harm yourself. I am so damn tired I need sleep. Carrie can attend to her, she won't kill herself, she was adamant against suicide. Oh God, why are women so crazy? Did I ever really love one? Camilla, now she was a challenge, she forgot about her misguided orientation on account of me. Or did she just use me to attack Nathan? Oh, how I would welcome such a using now; her silk black hair, the curves, and that rack. Maybe she is why I am so alone, I am infected still. Father, I am not fit to succeed you, you were right, but then what am I if I don't continue your legacy?"

In the living room the sun was set and Carrie was ready to retire when suddenly the coffin lid she had just covered over Vincent slid off the top wedged between the coffin, bay window, and floor. She turned around as the hair on the back of her head stood up. She slowly walked over and to her relief saw Vincent lying dead in the coffin. She reached over the coffin and pulled at the near side end to slide it back over.

Vincent leaped up and ceased Carrie biting into her neck.

"No!" Carrie screamed. She could not get free and Vincent took blood for the first time dropping Carrie to her knees where she was left light headed and about to pass out.

"Didn't I warn you, child, not to take vampires lightly?"

"Professor, please, was not Rosa right? You still know your first duty as a vampire hunter is to protect innocent life from the undead. Your will is strong. No one's is stronger, fight it."

"Unfortunately child even my will cannot hold up against this new nature. My theory is proven, no salvation exists now except a stake, but that is not my agenda any longer." Everything began to get blurry for Carrie and she passed out as Vincent picked her up in his arms. "You are infected my child, I should find a purification for you; but rather I will taste some more later." Vincent placed Carrie into the coffin and then carried it out the open bay window.

Just below in the crypt, Rosa was off wandering alone seeking a willing murder for herself. She saw the blood of Shanoa still staining the walls and managed to go deep enough into the cellar to notice a green glow from behind the small rubble of bricks. Upon entering the room there was a sword that hovered in the air in front of a coffin between the two support columns. This enchanted sword was a familiar that served Alucard.

A voice was heard, "Stand back." Rosa still approached and the voice was heard again, "Stand back or die."

"Do what thee must," Rosa responded.

The sword struck at her but stopped before making any contact. It bluffed twice. Rosa continued to approach the coffin. The familiar could tell she was unarmed so it did nothing. Rosa opened the coffin and saw Countess Bartley draped in a cape with a cross upon her chest. Rosa removed it and held it by her side, not thinking about the danger she might have placed everyone else in. The sword familiar disappeared as Bartley awoke from the ecstasy Alucard had left her frozen in. She quickly realized she had not awoke when the night began and knew Alucard was responsible. She figured it out when she saw the cross in Rosa's hand. Bartley shielded her face with the cape expecting Rosa to repel her with it, but Bartley instead heard Rosa drop it to the floor under the coffin.

"Can you make me what you are so that they may slay me?" Rosa asked.

Bartley was taken back. "Who are you?"

"Rosa, now widow to the late heir of Belmont. Please help me begin the end of my torment."

Still nude, Bartley got out of the coffin prepared to bite but sensed something different about Rosa. "How is it? You were once as I?" She put her hand over Rosa's womb and knew that a child not even a month old grew. Bartley then stared into Rosa's eyes. "You thought to have me at your will, and mistrusted me, Alucard, with good reason; for I now have the future of the Belmont Clan at my will."

6


	7. Vampirism Spreads

Chapter 7 Vampirism Spreads

Lecarde and Henry finally arrived at the temple of Ecclesia in the afternoon on the 27th of October. The last two nights had not been the social event they originally planned on showing up here for two days ago. It was to be a simple ritual; one old vampire hunter passes his whip to a young one. Nothing turned out simple.

Battered and tired, Lecarde and Henry arrived hoping that Coller had been stopped. Fear came over them when they got on the grounds and all was deadly silent. Lecarde was armed with two spears that had been strapped to his horse while Henry pulled his revolver and short sword.

"Carrie!" Henry called out.

"Be silent Lieutenant," Lecarde commanded, "let's not give away our position."

They opened the door silently and proceeded through the temple up the stairs to Richter's room. They saw it empty and the bed broken in half.

"Where are they?" Henry worried.

Lecarde studied the massive blood stains on the stone floor. "Something happened here. Let's check Sister Tera's room." As they went in they saw Richter lying besides her in the bed where a large crucifix hung over her bed.

"Mr. Belmont, Mr. Belmont," Lecarde nudged Richter.

"Water," Richter ordered.

"What has happened?" Lecarde asked giving him drink.

"No one fed me this morning, I should just die."

"What happened to the ladies, was Coller here?"

"He is dead, Hugh and Carrie destroyed him."

"You know of your great-grandson?"

"Yes, he has died because of me, as did Professor Vincent."

"The Professor?" Lecarde asked.

"Yes, an accident, but all will be finished here when Alucard arrives. Then your mission, cousin Lecarde, will be explained."

"Sure, is everyone well?" Henry asked.

"They were last night. Tera still breaths too."

"I will get you food, cousin," Lecarde said as he exited with Henry. "Find the others, Oldery. We must find out what the hell is going on. The Professor dead. Alucard? I am tempted to remove Rosa and Carrie out of here tonight and the hell with whip, Baldwin can have it."

"Not Carrie, she is my betroved now."

"Of course, but I am her kin now, I will make sure she gets back to the Schneider home where you can call upon her. Maybe I should just take the Vampire Killer from the old man."

"Well, regardless we will get out of here tonight. I must find Carrie."

The day dragged on but Henry was unable to find Carrie. He searched all over but began to panic. He checked the grounds and the stables. Although he grew fearful when he saw the pit where Coller was burned, he put his mind at ease when he examined the size of the large bones that still remained. Henry then decided to check the crypt where Shanoa had been mauled. He took a lantern and made his way down the stairs and into the cellar after the long tunnel. When spotting the fallen brick wall he moved in and saw an empty room with two columns.

"What is this?" He scanned the walls to see if any other passage could be discovered but he found none. He returned up out of the cellar and up the stairs to find Lecarde coming down.

"Did you find anyone?" Lecarde questioned.

"No, not Carrie, Rosa, or Baldwin," Henry said with panic. "Do you suppose that scoundrel took them? Is the whip still with Richter?"

"Yes, he has the Vampire Killer still so Hugh could not have left."

"Let us start a search of the grounds sweeping in opposite directions, its getting late. I must find Carrie."

The two went out of the temple when they saw Hugh approaching them.

"Don't fear gentlemen, I slain the monster," Hugh boasted.

"Where is Carrie?" Henry demanded.

"Lt. Oldery, I have not seen Miss Fernandez all day. I assumed she removed Vincent's body on her own though to the stables. He is dead you know."

"There is nobody in the stables."

"Well, I don't know then, cannot imagine she would burn it in the pit where I disposed of Coller."

"So that was what the ashes in the hole with the bones belonged to."

"What of Mrs. Schnedier?" Lecarde inquired.

"There maybe tragedy in that case," Hugh lamented. "She was distraught over her husband's death. She seemed to blame herself. She said she was a vampire and asked me to slay her. She may have been suicidal."

"And you lost sight of her, man?" Lecarde asked in disbelief.

"I was tired," Hugh explained, "I don't think she was really going to do it."

"What if she killed herself and Carrie," Henry speculated.

"Lets not jump to conclusion," Lecarde calmed him. "First, where the hell have you been, Baldwin?"

"Doing a public service in burning the remains of Sister Shanoa."

"That was my duty," Henry protested.

"You can dig her back up and bury her in Rome if you like, Oldrey," Hugh responded annoyed, "first grave freshly dug as you enter the main gate."

"What do you know about Professor Vincent's death?" Lecarde asked.

"Seems Alucard killed him according to the old man and the hysterical ladies."

"So that story was true, but can Alucard spread vampirism?" Henry asked.

"Maybe. Or maybe he wasn't Alucard," Lecarde stated with fear. "I now have a bad feeling about this Oldrey. Let us all spread out and search, one of us back to the graveyard."

"The graveyard is about three miles away Lecarde," Hugh informed them, "So I'll wait here inside the temple to see who shows."

"Fine, you do that. Oldrey, you search the grounds as you will. I will go to the graveyard. Be on extreme guard. We may have vampires to deal with."

Hugh returned inside the temple, while Henry and Lecarde went out to search. The sun was set and 20 minutes afterwards, a thunder storm came in. Henry took shelter in the stable.

"Damn it. Carrie where are you?" Henry took off his helmet throwing it against the wall. He unhooked his body armor and dropped it to the floor. He sat on a hay stack and put his hands in his face. "Carrie, let me find you."

Suddenly, from inside he heard a sweet voice call his name, "Henry."

He saw her dripping wet as lighting lit her body as she stood outside the rear entrance. He rushed to her pulling her in and closing the doors.

"You look exhausted, and pale, where were you?"

"I buried the Professor at the graveyard," Carrie said as Henry led her to sit down next to him in the hay.

"Really, Baldwin never helped you? He said you were taking the body here and he was at the graveyard burning Shanoa."

"No, he helped me but wanted me to offer payment for his assistance."

"What? Did he harm you?"

"No, Coller tore part of my dress yesterday, but Baldwin didn't touch me. I was tired and he left me out there."

"You are freezing Carrie," Henry said as he held her.

"Warm me Henry," she said as she began to kiss him and split open the tear exposing her flat belly, "take me here."

"Carrie, my love? Now?"

She got up boosting herself on his shoulders putting her bare toned navel in his face sliding down until her breasts rested upon his brow.

"I thought we were going to wait to do this again until I proved my commitment with marriage?"

"Prove it now, Henry," Carrie panted placing his hands on her butt. "This is what you wanted, I want it too." As he gave in she suddenly opened her mouth wide with large fangs biting into Henry's neck.

"Carrie!" Henry yelled as lighting muffled the impossible chance that anyone would have heard.

Hugh in the mean time was loitering in the main hall when he heard one knock on the temple door. He rushed down the stairs and opened the door where he saw a beautiful woman in a red dress and a veil over her head soaked in the rain.

"Rosa?" Hugh asked.

"No, Liz. Please help me, sir."

"What are you doing in this forsaken place alone? Quickly, come in."

"My coachman seemed to have died on the road of a heart attack and tipped it over. Fortunately, I found you in this strange place."

"Yes you did, my lady. You will have to stay here for the night. I can help you in the morning."

In the graveyard, Lecarde walked through the storm becoming drenched. He took cover aside a mausoleum.

"Damn, I'll have to head back," Lecarde commented to himself flipping a hood over his head.

"Let me send you on your way hunter," Vincent replied barreling into Lecarde. Lecarde stuck out his spear and Vincent grabbed it flinging him while he held on to it into a tomb stone where he slammed his head. Lecarde crawled dazed over to the entrance of the mausoleum.

"Where do you go, boy, you cannot escape me, I am the ultimate vampire with this knowledge of the ultimate vampire hunter."

"You were, or you still are?"

"I am always."

"Prove it. How would the ultimate vampire hunter handle your present situation?"

"I am the ultimate vampire hunter."

"Then the question becomes what would you do."

"Watch and learn as I destroy you."

"No, I mean as the ultimate vampire hunter. You cannot be the ultimate vampire hunter if simply becoming one costs you your ability to see your hunting through."

"Yes, I should have found a way to destroy myself by now."

"You have failed thus far."

"No, I was acting in what was my new nature."

"You must cease this, it is not becoming of an ultimate vampire hunter."

"But my theories, they must be supported with evidence. My actions now validate my theories."

"Then do a scientific experiment, test your ability to destroy the evil you have become."

"What?"

"Prove you have lost your soul and cannot fight the will of your new evil nature."

"Yes I must. You will publish my theory if the results prove me wrong. I must have my results printed in the circles of academia."

"Yes, of course, just spare me if you are right so I can publish it for you."

Vincent took an empty bottle and dunked it into the Holy Water at the entrance of the mausoleum and begun to poor it over his face. He screamed out in pain burning his face and blinding himself. Lecarde took the opportunity to rush upon him staking him through the heart with his spear. Vincent screamed in agony. Lecarde pushed deeper until the spear came out the other side of Vincent's chest. Vincent fell into the holy water fountain tipping the stone over spilling more water all over his body. He burned until his evil nature was gone.

"Thank you my boy, ask Reinhardt to forgive me for what I did to Carrie," Vincent spoke. His last words began to grieve Lecarde.

"What did you do to Carrie, Professor?" Lecarde cried. "If only I could ask Reinhardt to forgive you. But that will be up to you if your spirit can find his. Sleep well, I will find who did this to you and destroy him."

Lecarde stumbled out but felt his head get light. He had tunnel vision and felt he must have had a concussion. He began to stumble back to take cover from the storm so not to pass out in the grave yard. As he crawled back to the stone floor so not to collapse and take a further damaging fall. He looked at Vincent's body and blacked out.

Back in Ecclesia, Hugh led the stranded woman to the bed where he slept last night. He hoped in his heart that she would be less a lady when he brought her in the chamber.

"If that is all madam, I will bid you good night."

"Wait," she asked him. "Can you stay with me, I am afraid of the lightening."

"Of course, I can remain with you all night if you like, if you find it proper?"

"It is not, but I am afraid."

Hugh moved over a chair placing it by her bed to sit on. A lightning blot went off and she leaped at him.

"Nothing to be afraid of," Hugh said holding her.

"You being here is already improper so would you hold me in bed so I don't jump again, please."

"As you wish my lady."

"You are so strong," she said laying aside him with a hand and cheek on his chest.

"You are cold, Liz."

"Maybe you can do something about that."

"I'll see what comes up."

"What do you do?"

"I am a hunter."

"Of what?"

"All the things that could scare you in the night, but don't worry. I am the best and nothing in this realm will harm you tonight as long as you are with me."

Hugh began to slide his hang between her legs under her night gown and suddenly found it odd how cold she really was.

"Then this is where I will remain until the sun peaks over the mountains," she said looking into his eyes in the darkness as suddenly her eyes glowed red. Before Hugh could react, she was on his neck tearing in.

"Arrrrahhhhhh! Damn!" Hugh yelled and cursed, "Why do these things always happen to me?"

It was Countess Elizabeth Bartley, obviously, and no mercy would be shown to Hugh that night. She took every drop from him slowly for the next hour. When morning came Hugh was dead and Bartley was gone. Ecclesia was silent. Richter yelled from his bed unable to move.

"Water! Someone," he called out. He had barely half a small glass and he was so weak. He looked over to Tera and she still breathed. "We are going to die soon, Sister. If you can hear me, thank you for all you have done. Alucard is not coming back I suppose. The coward found out the truth and couldn't face it. I never knew myself until last week all these years. Hopefully, Lecarde shows up and takes the whip. If it kills him, we will have to take that chance. Hopefully he can find a true Belmont someday… Forgive me for getting you tied into this. You were with me, through this since the beginning. You were so dedicated to me. I shouldn't have left you open to such heart ache and what could never be. After Annette died I should have loved you myself if it would have grounded you to reality. Maybe it would have stabilized me too. But I never seen you that way. You were a true sister to me. And after you were in that presence… it was too late for your heart to love fully any man." He reached over and kissed her forehead. "Oh God, I didn't see what I had. I thought this whip was all that mattered. Now you have taken everything from me, left me alone to die. How I envy the youth. I long for nothing more than to be back in the 90s when I was young and had hope, and Annette. Leon, if only our clan stuck to winning the crusades and battling those of the satanic verses rather than those of the satanic legions." Richter drifted off into a deep sleep.

The hours of day light on the 28th of October were passing quickly. Lecarde finally came to. He was shaky and the three miles would take him an hour in his dazed condition. As he finally got to the temple the sun was already beginning to set. It was fortunate that he had finally come to getting some water out of the well.

"Oh Christ," Lecarde prayed, "let them still be alive." He entered into the temple and ran up the stairs to the room where Richter and Tera laid.

"Cousin," Richter greeted him. "This is it. I suspect there was a break out of vampirism, and the others turned out to be poor hunters most likely."

"No."

"You must take the Vampire Killer as the Church wanted all along. It may kill you however since you are not a true Belmont if you can even unlock its power. Still, hold it until you find a Belmont."

"What about you?"

"Any vampire will back off from me as long as I stay in bed under this cross for protection. I will protect her too."

"Maybe I should stay here too under the cross."

"Sorry cousin Lecarde, I would rather you die by the vampires then have to explain you to my peers as another Juste Belmont."

"What peers, you are dying old man?"

"Truth always gets out."

"Right, so it is death before dishonor. But who tells the story of another Desmond Belmont, anyway."

"You are a Lecarde, show courage, man. Besides, you are all that is left here. Make a stand. If you truly carry some of the same blood as Leon Belmont's father, you will find a way to succeed. If you run, they will still be out there spreading their curse to others and they will be emboldened to hunt you down and destroy you. Make the preemptive strike now."

"You are right cousin Belmont. I must make a stand. There cannot be that many of them. Carrie, probably Rosa, maybe Henry or Hugh, and the one who started this. Possibly Alucard?"

"You know cousin, I don't even know anymore."

"Well, I have the Vampire Killer, and even without extensive whip training, I can take them down with a few blows with this, correct?"

"I'll move over," Richter said sliding over in the bed.

Lecarde laughed.

"That's the spirit, lad," Richter encouraged him. "God's speed."

Lecarde went out of the room into the hall locking the door and proceed to creep around the stairs. The sun had now set. This was it. Lecarde was about to find out what out of the shadows awaited to face him. But after a few minutes, no creatures came out. He roamed the halls and went down the stairs but there was no one. He began to think maybe the Vampire Killer scared them off, so he walked into the living room where Vincent had been laid out two nights ago. Lecarde took a breather reclining on a love seat. Suddenly he saw a figure in the room standing at the bay window.

"Cousin," Carrie spoke gazing into his eyes as her dress and long black hair flowed blowing in the wind.

"Carrie? Did you make it? Where are the others?" Lecarde nervously asked praying that she had some how managed to emerge the last two days untainted by the curse and that Vincent's harm he spoke of was something trivial.

"We are all who remain, Cousin, all alone. Embrace me, I don't want to face what awaits us alone," Carrie spoke as she approached him.

Lecarde began to fear the worst as he started to become entranced by her.

"We may only have this one moment left," Carrie said grabbing Lecarde's hand and holding it between her chest. "From the moment I saw you, I wanted you," Carrie went on as Lecarde clenched the whip in his other hand trying to snap out of the moment. "I know you wanted me too; every man here lusted for my young suckle, able, and willing body. Come take me now, I'll let you taste all of it for yourself."

"Carrie my dear, I preferred your bronze look," Lecarde remarked. As Carrie reached for Lecarde's collar her hand burned on a scapular. Lecarde got to his feet and Carrie ran out of the living room.

"You degenerate!" Carrie yelled in pain. She went out into the main entrance of the temple where Lecarde followed and felt greater evil presence than just Carrie. He started to look in all directions while walking backwards up the stairs. He turned and noticed a figure at the top.

"Henry?" Lecarde asked as the figure raised a gun at him and fired. Lecarde jumped over the railing. Hanging by his hands over the side, another figure grabbed him by the leg and flung him off the railing 6 feet to the ground. It was Hugh who hissed at him, exposing his fangs and stabbed at Lecarde with his sword. Lecarde rolled away into the feet of Carrie. He flipped over his head and drew back the whip. Suddenly laughter came from atop the stairs. It was a woman. To Lecarde she looked like it could have been Rosa. but Lecarde could not tell for sure.

"There were two ways to make this hard on yourself, and you choose this one," the voice said laughing. "Now its over, just surrender the whip and save yourself the prolonged agony."

Hugh was suddenly behind striking at him and Lecarde side stepped but lost the whip as it slide to the front door. Lecarde had failed. There was no way he could win this battle. He was outnumbered at least four to one without his weapon of choice and made poor use of the Vampire Killer. Hugh and Henry closed in on him while the front door strangely opened behind Lecarde.

"Oh God," Lecarde cried out, "how much more of a disadvantage can I get?"

7


	8. Final Duel of the Vampire Hunters

Chapter 8 Final Duel of the Vampire Hunters

Lecarde was without hope as he was surrounded by the living dead with a new figure emerging from the door. He looked up and thought he seen a ghost.

"Reinhardt? Am I already dead?"

"No cousin," Reinhardt said picking up the Vampire Killer. "I live thanks to Alucard's healing familiars."

"Reinhardt!" Carrie exclaimed as she then begun to feel shame.

"Kill them," the same female figure that taunted Lecarde commanded from the loft.

"Elizabeth," Alucard spoke suddenly as he appeared in the temple opposite Reinhardt. "It's really my fault I suppose?"

"Yes, as always fuel that self loathing," Bartley mocked him revealing to the others who she was before then disappeared.

"Here." Reinhardt handed Lacarde a spear. "This is the Alucard Spear made of Alchemy."

"What do you have for me Schneider?" Hugh questioned drawing his swords.

"We no longer have any quarrel Baldwin."

"Oh yes, I know. I am aware of Coller's deeds. But now that we are on opposite sides of good and evil, what the hell? Let us just settle this rivalry pride sake."

"With pleasure," Reinhardt said as he accepted the challenge cracking the Vampire Killer.

"You Lecarde," Henry said pulling his short sword, "for your advances on my betroved, you warrant death by my hands."

"Advances? Maybe I should have gotten much more than a touch over her heart to make death worth my while."

"Alucard," Reinhardt pleaded, "is there any way we can help them? My Rosa was once corrupted. Surly Carrie.."

"I am sorry, I know not the circumstances of Rosa, but Carrie has lost touch with humanity and is too new at this to fight the blood lust."

"Step aside, old relic," Hugh commanded Alucard as he sliced at Reinhardt.

An orb hit Alucard taking him a step back. "The half breed is mine," said Carrie. The three matches faced off. Henry slashed at Lecarde who caught the blade in the trident of the spear and directed it into the ground pinning it. He than kicked Henry as he pulled out his revolver shooting Lecarde in the chest.

Alucard shot fire from his cape and Carrie moved to dodge it. She fired back an orb and Alucard became a bat flying over her head. She than got the bat with her second orb transforming Alucard back and slinging him to the stone floor.

Schneider parried Hugh's swords with his own short sword while striking Hugh with the Vampire Killer. Hugh cut Reinhardt's leg open and Reinhardt went to his back flipping Hugh over with his foot.

While Lecarde was being drawn down by Henry again he threw his spear at him piercing through the armor into his chest. "Damn!" said Henry. "Alchemy must be powerful stuff after all."

"No!" cried Carrie and then suddenly she was limp while Alucard held her after striking her through the heart with his sword from his mother.

Reinhardt and Hugh remained battling when finally the Vampire Killer's lashes became too much and Hugh dropped. Reinhardt finished him with a sword throught the heart. "We are now finished Baldwin. Go in peace."

"Yes we are. Do me one favor then," Hugh requested as he turned to human form, "and let me hold that damn thing once." Reinhardt put the Vampire Killer in Hugh's hand.

"There," Reinhardt said as he took the whip back, "no one can say Hugh Baldwin never wielded the Vampire Killer like his father and brother did."

"Great, put that on my tombstone," Hugh responded the last time before he died.

Meanwhile Lecarde pulled out the Spear but Henry was already gone. Lecarde said a silent prayer for him as Carrie was carried over to Reinhardt by Alucard who placed her into his arms.

"I toyed with her so she would go quick and easy, but she has appeared to linger," said Alucard.

"Reinhardt," Carrie spoke barely audible. "I feel safe again to be near you but I hated God for what happened to my parents. Make Him forgive me, so I can be with them and Henry."

Reinhardt kissed Carrie's cheek as his eyes watered and he placed her body next to Henry's. "Who was that Elizabeth?" Reinhardt asked, "and where is Rosa?"

"It is my fault," Alucard replied, "hopeful your Rosa has been spared, but likely even if so she will be a hostage for the Vampire Killer."

"Quickly,check Sister Tera's room," Lecarde suggested, "Richter Belmont is in there." He rushed up the stairs with Reinhardt while Alucard simply appeared at the door. Lecarde unlocked it and upon opening they saw Richter and Tera in bed while Bartley was by the window holding Rosa gagged and bound.

"Rosa!" Reinhardt exclaimed.

"End of the line Elizabeth let her go."

"Yes Adrian, this is the end. I hold the widow here with the last of the blood of Belmont growing in her womb."

"Give me my wife."

"So you live, hunter. No matter. I require the Vampire Killer for her return. Either forfeit your legacy to destroy my kind, or forfeit your blood."

"You don't need to do this Elizabeth," Alucard pleaded. "As wicked as you have been even these last nights, I would defend and protect you even from these allies of mine if you would release Rosa and forget about the Belmonts and their whip."

"You will do that regardless, I know that now after how you loved me again. But in the end you will betray me to confinement again over your compassion for them."

"Damn, it Alucard," Richter spoke up from the bed, "you created this fury of a woman's scorn."

"Well, then, she dies," Bartley threaten for the last time.

"No!" Reinhardt pleaded. "Take the Vampire Killer." He flung it before her feet.

"No Reinhardt," Richter said, "you have forfeited your duty."

"I cannot live with out her Great-Grandfather. I had to take the chance. Even if she kills Rosa and me anyway."

"Oh, poor fool, I shall kill you all. And Adrian will stand by and watch because I own his love exclusively. All will die but this life that grows in Rosa. He will be the carrier of the Vampire Killer. Our child, Adrian, to raise and dethrone your father with."

"I cannot let you do that," Alucard warned, as he summoned his power. But immediately he found his will lacking. "I have been tainted. Something is wrong."

"I told you, I know your nature better than you do. You gave into me too deeply to challenge me now. You are a slave to your passion for me."

"The only way to rid one woman from your heart is to replace her with another," Sister Tera spoke for the first time.

"Yes, Maria," Alucard concentrated.

"So that was the name of the woman who you thought you loved? But you could not, she was never more than I am to you. And I am here now ready to please your every desire again after you kill the remains of this washed up clan."

"Yes, I must…no!" Alucard struggled.

"Does your love for Maria not go strong enough to break this evil hold?" Tera asked.

"Sister," Richter protested, "don't."

"To know the path and dream of the ideal is one thing," Alucard said, "but to live it while denying the only pleasures you can gain in this world can be too hard to bear for an eternally lonely creature like myself. I love Maria for what she makes me hope I can be, but what I actually am loves Elizabeth."

"You break my heart as it sheds light that my love is in vain," the nun said, "But I love you still and it has all been worth seeing you again, Alucard." Alucard looked at her confused. Suddenly it was as though all the energy left in the old woman sprung out and she died dropping to the floor. Simultaneously, four spirits of the tortes, phoenix, cat, and dragon crashed through the window knocking Rosa lose of Bartley as they went into the body of Richter Belmont transfiguring with a great light. It blinded them all until the light finally dimmed and the amazement of all the witnessed stood Richter Belmont in all his glories as the warrior he was in 1792. Alucard could hear "Divine Bloodlines" playing in his head.

Reinhardt covered Rosa while Lecarde took his chance and stabbed Bartely through the chest with the spear as she agonized in pain. Alucard kicked Lecarde away from her while Richter slid to the Vampire Killer and went to strike. But Richter was stopped by Alucard's shield as it deflected Richter's lash. Lecarde went again and pierced the sword deeply through Bartley's back as it broke through her heart.

"Adrian!" Bartley screamed out as the spell broke over him. "You will pay spear chucker, you or your descendants."

"What am I doing?" Alucard said ashamed as he was about to face off with a rejuvenated Richter Belmont. He walked over to Bartley who was fading out of existence. "You were right, Adrian," Bartley confirmed, "there is something capable in me of loving, it just isn't enough."

"Goodbye Elizabeth," Adrian held her as she became ashes in the red gown that were once burned at the stake hundreds of years ago.

"That be the end of your whore Alucard," Richter complained. "I hope she was worth it."

"Don't judge so harshly, Belmont."

"I am sorry, I know you had to destroy your father before, maybe I ask too much and expect too much of you."

"Indeed but it had to be done, but how?"

"It was Maria."

"What?" Alucard went over to the nun's body.

"I recently discovered this month that when the plague hit in 1825, it was Tera who passed and Maria used some form of magic to disguise her face. The rest was a full habit. Seems she must have known I agreed to never release you until my death, and so she made it out here after the destruction of the House of Belmont and waited patiently playing off as Tera taking care of me, hoping for the chance to discover you here or at least see you one time before she died. But I fear she was disappointed."

"How could I not sense her?" Alucard questioned.

"She must have blocked it, or you lost something while you slept," Richter pondered.

Alucard held her and put her body on the bed. He could find no words to express the flood of mixed emotions and put his head face down into her chest and wept.

Reinhardt held Rosa and Richter went to them.

"You look outstanding, great-grandfather," Reinhardt remarked to Richter. "Will it last much longer?"

"No, but I would like you to leave and come back in the room when I am dead. It will be shortly. Forgive me son for my past transgressions against you and your father. I also regret the loss of your other loved ones these past days. You are truly my blood but I think you are no longer fated to carry the whip. You do not carry the Belmont name. Maybe you can escape the fate to eternally struggle. Surely Rosa will not escape again by any miracle; at least I wouldn't test it. Have your family and go in peace."

Reinhardt and Rosa each hugged Richter and said good bye. As they walked out and closed the door Lecarde asked, "So what now, I surely cannot wield that whip's power."

"No." Alucard spoke stoic once again. "Only a Belmont can. But we will perform a ritual. Your spear that I bestowed on you shall unlock the power for a vampire hunter to use it. Be warned to much use can kill the man who uses the whip, but with out your unlocking of it, it will be as second rate weapon mainly useless, as it probably was for the Baldwin Clan."

"So how must this be done?"

"Richter will hold the Vampire Killer as the last Belmont who will do so until the final battle with Dracula. Wrap the end of the whip around your spear and when I begin the magic, stab him through the heart with the spear getting his blood on both weapons. The whip will then hold the memory of his power as a warrior that he is now, when he was in his prime. From there you can choose a worthy carrier of the whip and unlock the power of the whip to him. All that the candidate must do then is defeat the memory of Richter Belmont."

"How impossible are we trying to make it on those heroes?" Richter asked shaking his head. "Does this mean my soul will be trapped?"

"I doubt that," Alucard speculated.

"Good enough for me. Cousin Lecarde, you made me proud."

"That was because you where in here, cousin, when the majority of the fighting took place."

"Probably. Alucard, thank you."

"Lets begin with the magic spell."

"Sure Alucard, see you at the resurrection then, friend. Send me home to Annette."

Reinhardt and Rosa heard a great noise from in the room and bright lights creped from under the door, then nothing but silence. Reinhardt opened the door and Lecarde stood with the Alucard Spear in his hand and the Vampire Killer strapped to his side. Alucard stood on the other side where Maria's dead body had been place on the bed now next to Richter who in death had returned to the shell of an 80 year old.

"It's over cousin," Lecarde said.

"Finally," Reinhardt breathed relief.

"_Good_**-**_night_**, **_sweet prince_;and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,"Alucard spoke of Richter.

"Hamlet?" Rosa asked.

"Richter Belmont spoke it to me when he buried me as I requested in 1797. But there will be no sleep for me any longer. I will find the blood of Belmont to prepare for the final battle, and search the entire earth if I must. Surly Simon Belmont had more sons."

"I will return to Spain for now," Lecarde mentioned. "Eventually, I'll have to take a trip. I have cousins in America, the Morris Family. The whip will be safe out in that frontier. And you cousin?"

"I am leaving with Rosa back to our home and never seeking to fight the darkness again if I can."

"What of all of our friends' remains?" Rosa asked.

"Baldwin buried Sister Shanoa at the cemetery three miles from here. I will bury Belmont, Maria, Professor Vincent who is there now, Carrie, Lt. Oldrey, and Baldwin next to Shanoa. That way if someone wishes to have them transported in the future or give them a proper burial," Lecarde said, "we know where they lay."

"Good," Schneider agreed, "I will help you. What about the remains of this creature? Cremation like what was done for Cornell?"

"I am sure no matter what I do," Alucard explained, "Some devoted witches coven will find a way to resurrect Countess Bartley. But I will leave her here and burn down this temple atop her in the morning."

They proceeded in the early morning hours with the arrangements. It took them until sun up to bury all the bodies even as Alucard helped them. When they were finished they returned to Ecclesia for a final time. Reinhardt loaded up the horse that Coller had ridden when he left him in the woods to die. He placed all of his memorabilia, including the Belmont armor on it. He then lifted the most precious cargo, his wife Rosa who carried his child, placing her gently on the horse side saddle before mounting it too with her in front of him. Lecarde loaded up the other horse and he mounted with the Vampire Killer and Alucard Spear.

"Well, cousin," Reinhardt said, "this is goodbye."

"Yes."

"If you ever are ever are in our realm."

"I will be sure to drop by."

"God bless you cousin," Rosa said to Lecarde.

"And yourself dear lady."

They stood looking at Ecclesia thinking about all they lost and saw Alucard in front of the entrance. Lecarde saluted him with the spear raised up and Alucard slightly bowed his head. Reinhardt bowed his head and Rosa smiled at Alucard and the horses took off.

As Ecclesia disappeared behind them, Lecarde said to Reinhardt, "Maybe I will ride with you to your house and then continue to Spain."

"Of course, good thinking," Reinhardt smiled as the two horses carrying the three cut a trail through the woods west.

Alucard had a place set to rest at the cemetery but first he set the temple a blazes as he had set combustibles all throughout the complex. In a window he saw a seal representing the purpose it was built for and he reflected on the book of Ecclesiastes. "And God will bring to light every secret thing and determine whether it be good or evil? Surely knowledge and wisdom brought only grief in this place." He walked away and let the fire consume it. He had more grief and loneliness as he thought of Maria and everything he enjoyed with Bartley only nights ago now left him empty. He had a painful journey ahead with all the added guilt for the deaths' of those these last few days. Alucard begun to envy Richter Belmont. Would he never find peace?

As it went up it burned for the day until nothing but some of the stone structure remained. The age of uncertainty for the Belmont clan was now only at the end of it's beginning.

Epilogue

And so what can be learned by observing that crisis and the heroes with all their flaws. This is a mostly forgotten, known only by few but still told fondly by your humble servant, St. Germain. In the aftermath, Ethan Lecarde would eventually give the whip to the Morris family who would have much grief from using it. Three generations of Morris would encounter Dracula while at least two would use the whip, John whom it killed and Jonathan. Lecarde's grandson Eric Lecarde would be part of a great battle but lose greatly; his wife and his daughters. One of Lecarde's tragedies was due to Countess Elizabeth Bartley who was resurrected by a young witch during WWI. Eventually, the whip would make it back to a Belmont, Julius Belmont, who Alucard finally found when he was needed most. But these are other tales. They don't really directly relate to this one I had been telling you now. Except, there is one more note that might be worth mentioning.

Two years after the burning of Ecclesia, an old aristocrat obsessed with immortality discovered the remains of the temple and found that the crypt is unharmed but needing removal of debris. Upon excavation, he finds that at least two vampires were buried behind murals that were sealed with glyphs that have been broken long ago. One was a vampire named Camilla and the other Elizabeth whose bodies no longer reside in the ruins.

"Damn," said the old nobleman.

"Lord Brauner, we are retiring for the evening."

"Very well," Brauner replied as they abandon him below talking to himself.

"I know Barlowe had tinkered with resurrecting vampires before he started such an ambitious

task as to raise Count Dracula. There must be at least one more here. As he went to the other

side he noticed where the clean up crew had not yet worked and brushing off some dirt where

he found an unbroken seal.

"Yes, a live undead one!" Brauner remarked as he cleared more dirt. He read the name

with a wide smile on his face. "Joachim Armster."

7


End file.
